Democrat California Mayor Pleads Guilty To Spying For Communist China, Running Fake News Website with Lover in Shocking Plea Deal

Valletta · May 13, 2026

Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People’s Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — the city is located in the San Gabriel Valley within LA County.

Democrat California Mayor Pleads Guilty To Spying For Communist China, Running Fake News Website with Lover in Shocking Plea Deal - Geller Report

This is today's Democrat party.

gellerreport.com

There is plenty of fake news out there, I am sure China not only has direct links like this but also funnels money to the sites that are most anti-Trump.

Belk · May 13, 2026

Geller Report - Bias and Credibility

QUESTIONABLE SOURCE A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no

mediabiasfactcheck.com

Valletta · May 13, 2026

Belk said:
Geller Report - Bias and Credibility

QUESTIONABLE SOURCE A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no

mediabiasfactcheck.com

The New York Times was the first media outlet that came to mind. This is the old "shoot the messenger" tactic. If there is anything not factually correct in the story than all are welcome to point it out.

Valletta · May 13, 2026

Here is a statement from the Justice Department:

“By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. “Let this serve as a clear warning: Individuals who act on behalf of foreign governments to influence our democracy will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice. Protecting the rule of law and the transparency of our democratic process remains at the core of the FBI’s mission, and we will continue working alongside our partners to safeguard the integrity of our elections and keep hostile actors from undermining the voices of the American people.”
"All Americans should be alarmed to learn an elected official was brazenly spreading propaganda on behalf of the Chinese government," said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The FBI is dedicated to rooting out those illegally acting as agents of a foreign government as they do the bidding of America’s adversaries."

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/arcadia-mayor-federally-charged-acting-illegal-agent-peoples-republic-china

Homeland Security, and funding of Homeland Security, is essential to the continuation of our democratic society.

RocksInMyHead · May 13, 2026

Valletta said:
The New York Times was the first media outlet that came to mind. This is the old "shoot the messenger" tactic. If there is anything not factually correct in the story than all are welcome to point it out.

While the general facts seem to be accurate, the sensationalism is a bit much. The article's attempts to tar Democrats with this are silly - she was elected to the City Council of a city of about 55,000. The mayorship rotates through the council. And lol at calling her former fiance her "lover."

Is it a big deal? Insomuch as we should take people acting as unlawful foreign agents seriously, sure. But there's nothing especially outrageous or shocking about this particular incidence.

ThatRobGuy · May 13, 2026

Southern California mayor resigns, will plead guilty to acting as agent for Chinese government

A Southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government and has resigned from her city position.

apnews.com

According to her plea agreement, Wang and a colleague, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, worked on behalf of government officials for the People’s Republic of China from the end of 2020 to 2022 to promote their interests by promoting pro-PRC propaganda in the U.S. Sun is serving a four-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the same charge last October. He was also listed in campaign filings as the treasurer for Wang’s 2022 election campaign.

Wang and Sun operated the news website U.S. News Center, aimed at the Chinese American community, and were instructed by Chinese government officials to post pro-PRC content on it.

MarcusGregor · May 14, 2026

One has to wonder if, following Trump's trip to China, a pardon might be incoming?

Gene2memE · May 14, 2026

Being an unregistered foreign agent =/= "spying".

Title is misleading.

essentialsaltes · May 16, 2026

In her plea agreement, Wang admitted that from late 2020 through at least 2022, she worked with Sun to run a website called U.S. News Center that branded itself as a news source for Chinese Americans.

Wang and Sun “executed directives” from Chinese government officials, posting requested articles and reporting back with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, the agreement says.

Prosecutors also say Wang edited articles at the request of officials and shared information showing the reach of the posts.

“Thank you leader,” she wrote on Aug. 20, 2021, after being complimented for a post that was viewed more than 15,000 times, according to the plea agreement.

Wang never disclosed that the Chinese government had directed her to post the content, according to court documents.

That sort of low-level violation of the law is not supposed to trigger federal charges unless, according to a February 2025 memo by then-Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to Justice Department prosecutors, the case involved “conduct similar to more traditional espionage.” The Trump administration has pursued other high-profile foreign agent cases recently, with prosecutors winning a conviction Wednesday of a man charged with running a covert police station in Manhattan and keeping tabs on political dissidents.

[Her ex-boyfriend and another man seem to have been more deeply involved in the scheme and pulled her in. They got 4 years and 20 months in their cases.]

RestoreTheJoy · May 18, 2026

Belk said:
Geller Report - Bias and Credibility

QUESTIONABLE SOURCE A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no

mediabiasfactcheck.com

Oh yeah...it's true and verified by multiple sources now.
MSN

Newsweek here:
Former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
shooting.

Wang resigned from the city council on Monday, stepping down as mayor following federal charges as the case proceeds.

The admission places a sitting U.S. elected official at the center of a foreign influence case tied to undisclosed coordination with Beijing-linked officials. Wang, a Democrat who was elected in 2022, now faces up to 10 years in prison and has resigned from her post.

Belk · May 18, 2026

RestoreTheJoy said:
Oh yeah...it's true and verified by multiple sources now.
MSN

Newsweek here:
Former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
shooting.

Wang resigned from the city council on Monday, stepping down as mayor following federal charges as the case proceeds.

The admission places a sitting U.S. elected official at the center of a foreign influence case tied to undisclosed coordination with Beijing-linked officials. Wang, a Democrat who was elected in 2022, now faces up to 10 years in prison and has resigned from her post.

Cool. Still does not make the original source credible.

FireDragon76 · May 18, 2026

"Peddling in Chinese propaganda = jail time. Peddling in Russian propaganda = likes and subscribes"

NxNW · May 18, 2026

Valletta said:
“Let this serve as a clear warning: Individuals who act on behalf of foreign governments to influence our democracy will be identified, investigated, and brought to justice.

Unless they were colluding with Russia, in which case Trump will pardon them.

ThatRobGuy · May 18, 2026

FireDragon76 said:
"Peddling in Chinese propaganda = jail time. Peddling in Russian propaganda = likes and subscribes"

Hopefully you realize that knowingly and deliberately acting as an agent of a hostile government (especially while serving in an elected position) is a little different than a person unwittingly sharing a Facebook post from a bot.

NxNW said:
Unless they were colluding with Russia, in which case Trump will pardon them.

So which person was doing the equivalent, apples-to-apples, for Russia? Meaning, which person are you thinking of that had loyalty to the country of Russia, and we're hoping to subvert people into helping them be the #1 world super power?

Disclaimer: If anyone says Trump, I'll slam dunk on that, so hoping someone has a more creative answer than that.

essentialsaltes · May 18, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
So which person was doing the equivalent, apples-to-apples, for Russia?

The people behind Tenet Media make a good parallel. The mayor isn't (AFAIK) being charged with anything related to her official duties. Just the website she posted Chinese-directed propaganda to.

RocksInMyHead · May 18, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
So which person was doing the equivalent, apples-to-apples, for Russia? Meaning, which person are you thinking of that had loyalty to the country of Russia, and we're hoping to subvert people into helping them be the #1 world super power?

That doesn't seem like an apples-to-apples comparison to what this woman was charged with. She spread Chinese propaganda in the US via a supposed news website. As essentialsaltes said, Tenet Media is probably the closest Russia-linked example (in that it was a group spreading Russian propaganda disguised as news). But you could also point to several figures from the first Trump campaign/administration who worked closely and covertly with Russian officials who were using them to influence the (future) President - which is worse, IMO. Flynn and Manafort are the best examples of that (and are probably who the person you replied to was referring to, since Trump pardoned both of them).

Stopped_lurking · May 19, 2026

ThatRobGuy said:
Hopefully you realize that knowingly and deliberately acting as an agent of a hostile government (especially while serving in an elected position) is a little different than a person unwittingly sharing a Facebook post from a bot.

So which person was doing the equivalent, apples-to-apples, for Russia? Meaning, which person are you thinking of that had loyalty to the country of Russia, and we're hoping to subvert people into helping them be the #1 world super power?

Disclaimer: If anyone says Trump, I'll slam dunk on that, so hoping someone has a more creative answer than that.

What does it mean that you will slam dunk on that? That you think that Trump's actions are compatible with him being prepared to help Russia?

Belk · May 19, 2026

Landon Caeli said:
Ill make sure I use Geller Report in all my posts from now on.

Up to you, of course. I don't think anybody who is a regular had found you credible for a long time so it might be superfluous.

Landon Caeli · May 19, 2026

Belk said:
Belk said:

I try to be careful. It does not always work out but I do try.

Click to expand...

I find myself deleting my posts like at the same time you post... I don't want to act toxic.

Yarddog · May 19, 2026

Valletta said:
Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People’s Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — the city is located in the San Gabriel Valley within LA County.

Democrat California Mayor Pleads Guilty To Spying For Communist China, Running Fake News Website with Lover in Shocking Plea Deal - Geller Report

This is today's Democrat party.

gellerreport.com

There is plenty of fake news out there, I am sure China not only has direct links like this but also funnels money to the sites that are most anti-Trump.

Wang was a Republican when she worked for the Chinese. She switched to the Democrat party after being elected to the Council but she said that she still supported Republican candidates.

Democrat California Mayor Pleads Guilty To Spying For Communist China, Running Fake News Website with Lover in Shocking Plea Deal

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