Thomas Pauken II, a journalist and political commentator originally from the United States, was sentenced to prison on Tuesday after it was discovered he acted as “an agent of a foreign government” while in the country. 

Pauken has lived in China since 2010, working for several state media organizations in the communist country. He was arrested in February after arriving in Washington, D.C., from China, and was planning to meet with a person who was seeking a job in the Trump administration. An affidavit revealed that Pauken sought to bribe that person, offering them a SIM card and $10,000 to prepare reports to be sent to Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

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