After California mayor case, FBI nabs American who spied on politicians for China

An American national has pleaded guilty to spying for China for six years, the Department of Justice has said.

The FBI said that Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, has admitted to attempting to infiltrate US political circles, gathering intelligence on his American targets, and reporting it back to his Chinese handlers.

"This case illustrates the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to undermine our democratic institutions and degrade our political freedoms, but it also demonstrates the FBI’s resolve to defend the homeland from threats to our national security," Roman Rozhavsky, the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said in a statement.

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Pauken’s case comes weeks after a mayor in California, Eileen Wang, admitted to acting as an illegal foreign agent of China.

In recent years, China has emerged as a principal national security threat for the United States. China has ramped up espionage efforts not just to infiltrate American government organisations but has also sought to plant its agents among American politicians to compromise electoral democracy. China has also pursued an aggressive sabotage campaign for years, involving cyberattacks, theft of intellectual property, and the undermining of critical American infrastructure.

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Earlier this week, the Five Eyes intelligence coalition —involving the United States— had warned that Chinese undercover operatives are using legitimate platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Upwork to advertise fake analyst jobs to recruit Westerners and pressure them into revealing secrets.

If convicted, Pauken faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Pauken spied for China from 2019 to 2026

The DoJ said that Pauken spied for China from at least 2019 to February 2026.

Pauken worked at the direction and control of people he knew worked for the Chinese government, including a person he met in 2017 identified as Cathy, according to the DoJ.

Cathy essentially worked as Pauken’s handler and provided him with tasks, including meeting with potential intelligence assets; providing them with devices such as a laptop and a mobile phone to communicate with her; assigning tasks to the assets on what information was required; and receiving reports from the assets, according to the DoJ.

For his part, Pauken received at least $100,000 along with paid travel between the United States and China several times between 2019 and 2025 to meet people who could provide Cathy with information, as well as individuals believed to be linked to China’s spy agency MSS, as per the DoJ.

Apart from Cathy, Pauken has also been accused of working with two other persons, Richard and William, whom he believed were working for the Chinese government.