Biography
Thomas Pauken II is an American journalist and political commentator who spent more than a decade living in China, writing under the pseudonym Tom McGregor for Chinese state-affiliated outlets including China Radio International (CRI) and the China Global Television Network (CGTN). He is the son of Thomas W. Pauken, a former chairman of the Texas Republican Party who served in the administration of Ronald Reagan.
In February 2026 FBI agents arrested Pauken in Herndon, Virginia, charging him with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government — specifically the People’s Republic of China — in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). An affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Timothy Healy in federal court alleged that Pauken prepared confidential reports for a Chinese government handler who told him the material was being conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The affidavit further alleged that Pauken submitted to a polygraph examination at his Chinese contact’s request and provided a cellular phone and laptop to another U.S.-based individual who was seeking employment in the Trump administration.
The case is being prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria Division). The charges concern Pauken’s alleged failure to register and disclose the relationship with the Chinese government under FARA, not the content of his journalism itself. His supporters characterize the prosecution as a politically motivated application of FARA against an American journalist who openly published pro-China commentary; the Justice Department characterizes it as a covert foreign-influence operation. The case is logged here because of the political-prosecution framing in the public discussion and remains active as of May 2026.
