Journalist, Son of Texas Politician Accused of Selling Intelligence to Beijing

An American journalist and son of a Texas Republican politician has been charged with acting as a Chinese agent, court records show. 

Thomas Pauken II, who has lived in China for more than a decade and worked for multiple Chinese state media, took at least 100,000 for working with an individual within the Ministry of State Security, China’s CIA-like agency tasked with espionage operations, according to an affidavit. 

The handler, a woman he called Cathy, stated that the materials he provided were read by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the filings state. 

Pauken said he has prepared reports and recorded interviews to Cathy through Telegram or WeChat, a Chinese social media app, before deleting the messages at Cathy’s request, the affidavit said. 

Pauken is the son of Tom Pauken, the director of a federal agency for managing domestic volunteer programs during the Reagan administration who went on to chair the Texas Republican Party and the Texas Workforce Commission, a state agency. 

Pauken’s Chinese associates were “obsessed” with attaining information on his father, who had asked him to use an alias—Tom McGregor—to avoid being tied to the son’s activities in China, according to the filing. 

The affidavit described Pauken taking a lie detector test at Cathy’s urging and connecting Cathy with a person now working for a U.S. government agency, receiving multiple payments from the Chinese intelligence agent for the information he gleaned from the person regarding the Trump administration’s thinking. 

Pauken told the FBI he was 80 percent sure the person would hand over classified information to China despite him advising against it, the affidavit said. 

Under Cathy’s instructions, Pauken gave the individual a laptop along with a Samsung phone for communicating with Cathy, along with a flash drive, according to the FBI agent who drafted the affidavit. 

Pauken made multiple trips between 2019 and 2025, with Cathy wiring around $7,000 to $8,000 to Pauken’s wife to compensate for each trip, the FBI agent wrote. 

In addition to Cathy, Pauken said he also worked with a group of Chinese individuals based in the Chinese city of Wuhan, who sought information relating to technology and the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the filings. The men wanted Pauken to find an expert to assist with their cyber espionage efforts, the FBI agent wrote. 

The individual who worked for the U.S. government was not named in the court documents. He told the FBI that he stopped working with Pauken after receiving the laptop and phone, but reconnected with Pauken around January through a mutual contact, according to the affidavit. 

He then began working as a potential intermediary on an oil deal involving one or more Chinese or foreign firms, according to the court filing. In a February meeting, Pauken allegedly met the person in a hotel, giving him a SIM card and offering him a $10,000 bonus for agreeing to work with Cathy. Pauken said Cathy expected one report per week, which would be sent to Xi and influence policy, the FBI agent said.  

Pauken authored a 2019 book, “US Vs China: From Trade War To Reciprocal Deal,” which purports to offer a “neutral and balanced perspective” on the bilateral trade relationship. 

He was arrested in March and is facing a plea hearing on May 29 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Pauken’s lawyer, Charles Burnham, said they look forward to responding to the government’s allegations in court.

“It’s critical to understand that Mr. Pauken is not charged with spying or mishandling classified information,” he told The Epoch Times in a statement. “The government’s complaint charges that Mr. Pauken did professional work for a foreign government without first completing certain required paperwork.”

Pauken’s father didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.