The FBI has accused an American who worked for Chinese state media of acting illegally as an agent of the Chinese intelligence services in seeking secrets from a U.S. official, according to court documents.
Thomas Pauken II, a U.S. citizen, was an editor at the official Chinese news agency Xinhua and three other official outlets and worked with a Ministry of State Security official as an unregistered Chinese government agent, according to FBI agent Timothy Healy, who disclosed the case in a recently unsealed affidavit.
According to the FBI, Mr. Pauken since 2019 worked with a Chinese official described only as “Cathy” in providing reports on American policy toward China that were sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The court document unsealed in the Eastern District of Virginia stated that Mr. Pauken was required to take a polygraph test to confirm that he did not work for the CIA because his information was being sent to Mr. Xi.
Mr. Pauken also acted as a go-between with a U.S. government employee with access to secrets who was sought as a recruited informant by the MSS.
Mr. Pauken was arrested in March after a failed FBI attempt to turn him into a double agent working for the U.S.
He is scheduled to appear at a pre-indictment hearing before U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema on Friday.
Charles Burnham, a lawyer for Mr. Pauken, said it’s critical to understand that his client is not charged with spying or mishandling classified information.
“The government’s complaint charges that Mr. Pauken did professional work for a foreign government without first completing certain required paperwork,” Mr. Burnham said in a statement. “We look forward to responding to the government’s allegations in court.”
Formal charges or an indictment for acting as an unregistered agent of China have not been filed.
The affidavit portrays Mr. Pauken as cooperating with Chinese intelligence and seeking to obtain secrets on foreign intelligence operations directed against Beijing, corporate and industrial information, and data on foreign politicians and intelligence officers.
His work in China was conducted under the name “Tom McGregor,” at the request of his father, Thomas Pauken, a former official in the Reagan administration, because the senior Mr. Pauken did not want to be linked by name to his son’s work in China.
Chinese intelligence conducts “human source operations” directed by trained intelligence officers and nonprofessional collectors called cut-outs or co-optees,” Mr. Healy stated in the affidavit.
The goal of the activities is to recruit, operate and obtain information from human sources. The indirect sources operate under a variety of covers by posing as diplomats, journalists, academics or businesspeople, he stated.
“These individuals are tasked with spotting, assessing, targeting, collecting, and handling sources or assets with access to classified, open-source, proprietary, or sensitive information that the PRC government can use for economic, political, or military decision-making or advantage,” Mr. Healy said, using the acronym for People’s Republic of China.
The affidavit said Mr. Pauken since at least 2019 was working with known MSS operatives who provided him with tasking and communication devices.
Mr. Pauken moved to China in 2010 and worked as a journalist in Hong Kong for China Radio International, China Central Television and China Global Television Network, the affidavit said.
He was first interviewed by the FBI in January 2025 upon entering the U.S. from China. During the interview, he told agents that in 2017 he met Mr. Xi’s speechwriter, who introduced him to the alleged MSS officer named Cathy.
A major target of the recruitment plot outlined in the affidavit was a consultant who tried to get a job in the second Trump administration.
The consultant identified as “Person 1” was not hired by the new administration but currently works for a U.S. government agency that was not identified in the affidavit.
“Pauken believed that if Person 1 was hired by the incoming presidential administration, he was 80 percent sure that Person 1 would provide classified information to the PRC, despite Pauken having advised Person 1 not to do so,” the affidavit said. “Pauken was very concerned that Person 1 would eventually provide classified information to Cathy.”
Mr. Pauken was paid more than $100,000 by the MSS between 2019 and 2025 for reports, the affidavit stated.
“Cathy explained to Pauken that all his reports were read by Xi Jinping,” the affidavit said.
In addition to the alleged MSS agent, Mr. Pauken worked for two other people in China and underwent a polygraph test for that work.
According to the affidavit, the FBI agents told Mr. Pauken in 2025 to “continue his plans as if nothing had changed” and to keep secret his meeting with the FBI, an indication that they sought him for undercover work against China.
The affidavit later stated that he informed Chinese officials about his meetings with U.S. government officials, likely leading to his arrest on March 12.
Mr. Pauken met Person 1 in February and asked if the person would resume working for Cathy and offered $10,000 for the work, the affidavit said.
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