A U.S. journalist has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for serving as an agent of a foreign government within the United States, according to the U.S. Justice Department. This case highlights ongoing concerns regarding foreign influence in American media and the legal ramifications for those who engage in such activities.
Thomas Weir Pauken II, 51, pleaded guilty earlier this year and is not planning to appeal, according to his defense lawyer, Charles Burnham. Pauken also was sentenced to 36 months of supervised release with no overseas travel, the department said in a news release on Tuesday. He was arrested in February.
From at least 2019 until February 2026, Pauken worked at the direction of people he knew worked for China’s government, including a person he met in 2017 identified as “Cathy, according to court documents. 27 federal court affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Timothy J. Pauken was stopped by Customs and Border Protection agents when he returned to the U.S. in January 2025.
“Pauken betrayed his country for money” for supporting “Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) operations, recruiting, and gathering of sensitive information from potential assets,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Pauken has accepted responsibility and respects the court’s sentence,” his lawyer said, adding that “as the government agreed in court, Mr. “Cathy” told him the reports were read by Chinese President Xi Jinping , according to a Feb. In interviews with CBP and FBI agents, Pauken said he was “80 percent sure” that the person who was seeking a job in the Trump administration would provide classified information to China, although Pauken advised the person not to, according to the affidavit.
The case is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions involving people accused of working for the Chinese government without proper disclosure, as tensions between Washington and Beijing remain high. Eisenberg in the news release. “Mr. Pauken did not provide any classified information to the Chinese. Healy. Pauken’s father was a former chairman of the Texas Republican Party in the 1990s and ran for governor more than a decade ago.
