Son of prominent Texas Republican charged with being agent of China while claiming to be journalist

A sworn affidavit from FBI Special Agent Timothy Healy, first obtained by Politico, states that "since at least 2019, Pauken has been working at the direction and control of individuals he knows to be working for the [People’s Republic of China], including an individual he knows to be working for the [Ministry of State Security], whom he calls 'Cathy.'"

The affidavit stated that "Cathy" had given tasks for Pauken to complete, including while he was in the United States, that included "Pauken meeting with potential human sources for Cathy, providing human sources with communications devices (such as a laptop and cellphone) to be used for communication between the human source and Cathy, providing taskings for the human sources on what Cathy required, and providing Cathy with reports from the human sources."

He allegedly received at least $100,000 for his work with "Cathy." He admitted during a voluntary interview that his work with the woman "was part of a conspiracy to obtain classified information from the United States government," and that he had participated in the conspiracy "by acting as a middleman between his PRC handlers, like Cathy, and human sources," per the affidavit.

Pauken was pulled in for an interview with customs agents at Washington Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC on January 29, 2025, after agents discovered two cell phones, a laptop, and $3,000 in cash in his luggage. During the interview, Pauken said he moved to China in 2010 and worked "as a journalist" for several prominent state-controlled media outlets.

"All his Chinese associates were obsessed with attaining information on Pauken’s father who had worked for the Reagan administration. Pauken used the alias Tom McGregor at his father’s request because his father (who shares the same first and last name) did not want to appear associated with Pauken’s activities in the PRC," Pauken allegedly said in the interview.

Tom Pauken served in the Reagan administration and later chaired the Texas Republican Party between 1994 and 1997. He was later appointed by then-Governor Rick Perry to chair the state’s Workforce Commission in 2008, and ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor in 2014.

The younger Pauken said in his interview with CBP that in 2017, a man who worked as Xi Jinping’s speech writer introduced him to Cathy, who he was told "consulted for a think tank closely connected to the Chinese Government." Reports Pauken gave to Cathy were reportedly read by Xi Jinping.

On his 2025 trip, Pauken said he was going to meet with a person who had been looking for a job in the incoming Trump administration, identified as "Person 1" in the affidavit. Prior to the trip, Cathy had given Pauken a cellphone to give to Person 1, along with instructions on how to use it. Pauken was also told to buy Person 1 a laptop.

"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. Pauken was very concerned that Person 1 would eventually provide classified information to Cathy."

In a subsequent trip to the US in February 2026, the FBI "simultaneously monitored" a meeting Pauken had with Person 1, whom he had given the laptop and phone to the year prior. Pauken told Person 1 that Cathy "expected one report per week" and that his reports "would influence policy and be read by Xi Jinping." Pauken was arrested shortly after the meeting.

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