"I would make the world's worst spy ever”
American Thomas Pauken II pled guilty to acting as an unregistered Chinese agent on US soil. Has he been hiding in plain sight, all along?
“My family are enjoying our trip to Washington D.C,” posts Thomas Pauken II, on X, on Feb 26 this year. It gets a 167 views. 0 likes.
But behind the smiles is a secret. FBI files recently made public allege this isn’t any normal family trip to America’s capital — the whole trip has been paid for China’s Ministry of State Security. They allege the man posing with his family, is actually a middle-man. He’s been tasked to recruit someone known as “Person 1”. To convince them to write weekly reports for the Chinese government. Pauken is “80 percent” sure that if recruited, they’ll hand over sensitive material.
“Be careful,” his Chinese handler ‘Cathy’ messages him, before he sets off on Feb 20.
On Feb 25, the two men finally meet in a Washington D.C. Hotel, after two years of back-and-forth, a couple of face-toface, though mainly messaging.
I was worried you were setting me up in a “sting operation”, Pauken admits.
Actually, the FBI are listening. The meeting is being monitored. By the next day, both men will be interviewed. Pauken’s phones will be searched. He’s been incarcerated since, charged with acting as an unregistered agent for a foreign government. Awaiting trial.
This is some of the detail behind it. Plus a simple question. Was he hiding in plain sight?
Chinese rejuvenation
Pauken says he moved to China in October 2010, after being “shattered by divorce”. “I moved to China with only $200 and all my possessions in 2 suitcases,” he states.
Pauken quickly married a local Chinese woman, had a son and worked a plethora of jobs for Chinese state media: China Radio International, China Daily, CCTV, CGTN, Xinhua — a full house.
As a proud Republican and Trump supporter, he became a regular commentator on CGTN’s TV shows, and podcasts. The channel omits that he works for them, down the hall, as an editor for the commentary team. Instead, captions tend to introduce him as the author of: “US vs China: From Trade War To Reciprocal Deal”.
As of today, the book has one single written review on Amazon. “Biased, not truthful… dull, boring, poorly written, and uninformative to any useful degree,” says Jack, the disgruntled reader. One star out of five.
In 2024, after a rumoured falling out, he landed at Xinhuanet, the web portal division of Xinhua News Agency.
As foreign faces go, presenting for Chinese state media, Pauken sticks out for being particularly unimpressive. Take this video pushed to global newswires on 29 Jan 2026, just days before his arrest.
Behind the scenes, people who know him describe him as eager, emotional, and a “bit of a sad sack”.
So when I first see the news he’s facing trial for something adjunct to espionage, my first thought is “huh, him?” But then I remember something.
Paulken’s father is Thomas Pauken I. Once a senior director under the Reagan administration, and a large figure in the Texas political scene since. It’s reported that Pauken Senior insisted his son adopt a pseudonym, lest his Chinese life affect his father’s Republican credibility. Junior often goes by Tom McGregor.
Ah. So perhaps he does have value. Particularly to people like ‘Cathy’.
“It was obvious” she was intelligence
According to the affidavit submitted by an FBI agent to a District Court in Virginia, Pauken has been following orders issued by China’s Ministry of State Security, since at least 2019.
Across several interviews with agents, Pauken is candid. He says he’s dealt with several handlers, but mostly it’s a lady called ‘Cathy’. A Chinese woman in her 30’s.
Pauken said that ‘Cathy’ never told him explicitly that she worked for the MSS, but Pauken said that it was “obvious”… Pauken said he knew ‘Cathy’ worked for the MSS.
Primarily, Pauken says he is a middleman. Tasked with signing up interesting people to “write reports”. He also is alleged to have handed them sim cards, equipment, and logins.
‘Cathy’ would usually pay for Pauken’s trips (approximately $7,000 - $8,000 per trip.) Cathy often wired her payments to Pauken’s wife’s bank accounts. Pauken was paid approximately $100,000 for his reports, which does not include payment for his trips.
Pauken says Cathy tested him using a lie detector machine, under which he’s asked whether he’s a spy for the US. He says she has to be sure, as the reports are “being read by President Xi Jinping”.
She teaches him to communicate covertly. To always delete or recall his messages to her after she reads them.
‘Person 1’ and ‘Person 2’
According the the report, Pauken met ‘Person 1’ at a political event Washington D.C. in June 2023. That does not narrow it down.
On June 8, Pauken attended The American Conservative’s annual conference at congress, watching talks by prominent politicians Rand Paul, Matt Gaetz among others. Pauken meets and posts pictures of himself with congressman Eli Crane (Republican, Arizona), and later receives a signed book from Emile Doak (then head of TAC) referencing a meeting between the two.
That’s not all. In New Hampshire, he’s there as Republican Chris Christie launches his Presidential bid at a town hall event (back row, green polo shirt). and asks a question on US-China ties. He meets his college friend New Hampshire State Rep. Maureen Mooney, touring the state capitol. He dines with the prominent right-wing commentator Sohrab Ahmari.
After a busy few days, Pauken poses with his family. “After a long research trip to USA, I can finally fly back to China in a few hours. China is my real home,” he states.
The FBI statement also lists a “Person 2”, described as: “an individual who was the president of an energy-focused non-profit foundation”. The report says “Person 2” was paid via a non-profit, and accepting money as a donation through the website.
Across his state media appearances and professional life, Pauken sometimes is introduced as Advisory Board Member of the U.S. FAIR Energy Foundation. However, the outfit looks to have little presence beyond its website. Though he did visit Uzbekistan on business.
President of the firm is David Wallace II, a former Republican nominee for congress, and currently standing in the Republican primary for Maryland District 2. His second campaign promise is to “fight government corruption”.
Pauken describes Wallace as a “family friend”.
On Jan 31 2025, while Pauken was visiting the States on a trip the FBI report says was ‘funded by ‘Cathy’’, the two men met at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington DC along with “a few friends of Chinese ancestry”.
A subsequent article penned by Pauken — since deleted — describes how the two first met in a “chance meeting” in August, the year prior.
The article calls Wallace “a typical Republican American voter”, but after “frequent chats on Social Media”, and suggestions “his think tank should learn more about China”, Pauken describes how Wallace experiences a rapid change of heart:
This man was anti-China his entire life while growing up in a working class neighborhood of Baltimore. Nonetheless, he looked sincerely happy to tell the Chinese that he supports stronger US-China energy trade ties. He saw the benefits and now stands eager to promote deeper and more profitable US-China economic cooperation.
All coincidences. Surely?
“People are suspicious that I’m a spy”
Pauken posts. A lot. Since joining Twitter 2017, Pauken has tweeted 130,000 times. Most hit tens of views. They average 0 likes.
Since his arrest, they sit there frozen. An awkward time capsule, rapidly taking on new meanings.
One of his last acts as a free man, was to retweet the story of a US airman arrested for allegedly training Chinese pilots. “There is a word for this kind of action. SHOW NO MERCY,” the post says.
Over the years, Pauken has been noticeably preoccupied with the notion of spying, tweeting about it dozens of times. Some include:
“Sometimes people accuse me of being a spy. I just ask those accusing me: Why would anyone hire me? I like to write a lot in public forums and and my record at making friends with rich and powerful people is terrible. I would make the world’s worst spy ever.” July 9 2019
“Really, I talk too much, love gossip, out of shape, and the list goes on… Any spy recruiter would take one look at me and know that I have no skills for spying.” July 25 2023
“I try to explain China to others to promote peace. But still people are suspicious that I’m a spy. But if I was a spy I would have been the world’s worst spy.” Oct 15 2023:
According to the affidavit, Pauken was working for the MSS while writing all these tweets.
Pauken even obliquely references his FBI meeting. Three months after his first interview, he tweets: “Last three times visiting USA I got stopped at US Customs - over 12 hours of interrogations in cumulative total. The intimidation tactics are for real.”
Another that stands out is this from 2023.
He quote retweets researcher Sana Hashmi, who posts a letter showing how Chinese security have been impersonating non-existent Taiwan institutions in order to recruit Indian academics — another ‘report writing’ influence op.
Pauken replied: “Very interesting. This could explain why I had some challenges meeting people. They might think I’m part of spamming schemes when in fact I don’t do the fake stuff.”
Coverup
Since Politico broke the story, Pauken’s former state media colleagues have sought to distance themselves, fast.
Andy Boreham, a New Zealand-born man who runs a media studio for state-owned Shanghai Daily, explained on X: “Tom was a friend, and has been on the show… a few things didn’t add up,” and “I deleted him on WeChat after a disagreement.” He deleted both tweets moments later.
Likewise, Jason Smith, a worker for CMG. He’s had Pauken on his state-run podcast multiple times. As of today, Smith has scrubbed interactions the two had on X, and deleted posts advertising Pauken’s episodes.
While some traces of Pauken’s state media appearances exist across the internet, I suspect they, too, may start to disappear.
“Have you betrayed your country?”
On Friday, Pauken will have a pre-indictment plea hearing.
According to Politico, that usually means some sort of guilty plea, or plea bargain has been reached. Conviction of being an unregistered agent carries up to 10 years in prison, and a fine of $250,000. For Pauken, that would be a heavy price for what his lawyers are selling as an ‘admin error’.
Facing down a possible stretch behind bars, I wonder if he’s changed his views.
In 2017, Pauken was working for CCTV, China’s largest state media firm, as part of a team paid to post pro-China answers to Quora, the supposedly open Q&A community website.
Answering the question: “What do you think about the Chinese government killing and imprisoning CIA spies in China?” Pauken wrote:
Why should anyone be surprised that a foreign spy would get killed when captured? A spy is fully aware of their job tasks and responsibilities. And when making a pledge to spy for their country or to engage in treason by spying for a different nation, they are pledging to die for the country they are working for.
Some, might say, “but Tom, you live in China, have you betrayed your country?” The answer is “no,” I do not know any spies or Top Secret information in China. I never even try to find out such confidential information.
I would not want to put anyone at risk.. But when it comes to treason… I refuse to act in such a manner.
Update. On Thursday June 4, at a court in East Virginia, Pauken II pled guilty to working as an unregistered Chinese agent. Sentencing is set for September, where he could be given up ten years in jail.
Two things jump out from today. One, as per Politico's report:
“As Pauken stood in a dark green jail jumpsuit and responded to [Judge] Brinkema’s questions, he referred to one of the documents on the courtroom lectern as a “cooperation agreement.” The judge quickly cut in, saying: “We’ll strike that word.”
She later sealed the hearing for about five minutes, ejecting reporters.” That slip implies some sort of deal was struck between Pauken and the FBI — either at the time of his first questioning a year ago, or as part of a plea deal since.
The other is the words of Pauken's father. On Thursday, he called his son: “a very naive person” who “got roped into something”.
Naive: yes. Simple: yes. Caught: yes.
Gross all around. Size-able silver lining in that the PRC wasted time and bandwidth on him.
Great coverage as always Whipling!
Honestly, this infuriates me.
I look forward to the day when all citizens of Western countries in China who are acting as agents are revealed.
And also — it makes sense as to why so many “expats” in China had such a visceral response to me speaking publicly about how China targets people to commission reports for the MSS.
Also, I feel vindicated as more information comes out. I hope those who thought I was concocting some sort of story to “reintegrate into Austrian life” can have a think about their own biases & assumptions. Because speaking publicly was risky, but I felt it important. And now, I do not regret speaking out at all.
And the hilarious thing? These people are all in group chats together. I hope that his phone provides important evidence that proves he is by far not the only one doing this.
I was approached numerous times. I declined, which did put myself in some danger. It was a very scary couple of months for me.
And then you hear about these (alleged) idiots, and it is no surprise why we get targeted.
I am proud that I chose honesty & stuck to my values. Also, I was grieving my late husband, and actually dealing with the political fallout from being a visible face on Chinese state media, plus so much more. So… for him to say yes? What pressure was he under?? Coward!
People like this? Visions of grandeur, self-importance, and… a lot of the time, they are cold-blooded narcissists. They don’t care about China, just how important China fools them into feeling they are.
And also — some of these people like to go around dropping hints that they are somehow connected to the government. Why? Because in the little hierarchy of “China supporter foreigners” that they’ve established, there is always a fight to get to the top.
Thank you for sharing this. I appreciate the time & effort you put into writing this.