An American journalist who was an editor and wrote commentary for various state-run news agencies in Beijing has been sentenced to two years in jail for providing American “secrets” to the Chinese, and encouraging an unidentified Trump administration official to reach out to a woman in China whom he believed to be a Chinese intelligence agent.
A report at Politico identified the defendant as Thomas Pauken II, 50.
He had been arrested by the FBI last winter in Washington after encouraging that official to reach out to a Chinese woman.
Pauken had been living in Beijing and working for various agencies.
He pleaded guilty just a few weeks ago to acting as an unregistered agent for China in the U.S.
Prosecutor Eli Ross charged Pauken was paid $100,000 over a seven-year period to create reports on U.S.-Chinese relations, reports that were used by the Chinese government, the report said.
“Pauken’s Chinese handler had Pauken take a lie-detector test and said his reports were being conveyed to Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, according to court filings in the case,” Politico reported.
American journalist Tom Pauken II was sentenced to two years in prison today after he pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered agent for China in the US. @joshgerstein and I were first to report on the charges in May.https://t.co/azaYm8w3N3
— Jacob Wendler (@jacob_wendler) September 1, 2026
JUST IN: An American who worked for state news agencies in China, Tom Pauken, sentenced to 2 years in prison for acting as unregistered agent for PRC in US. Pauken admitted attempting to connect his Chinese handler with an unnamed Trump admin official https://t.co/vr7XK9n21L
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) September 1, 2026
Authorities confirmed he had not given China classified information, but Pauken confirmed to Judge Leonie Brinkema, “I learned a lot of secrets and I did tell the Chinese about these secrets.”
He said it was done to improve U.S.-China relatins.
“I thought I was helping, but now I realize I could’ve caused even more damage, including war,” Pauken said.
He has been in custody since his arrest.
