On November 7, 2025, President Donald Trump granted a presidential pardon to Michael McMahon, a former New York Police Department (NYPD) sergeant convicted for his role in a high-profile case involving China’s controversial efforts to repatriate a Chinese official living in New Jersey. The decision has reignited debate over the boundaries of justice, international relations, and the risks facing those caught between powerful governments.
McMahon’s story, which reads almost like the plot of a modern spy thriller, began when he was hired as a private investigator. According to CNN and the Associated Press, McMahon believed he was working for a Chinese construction company, tasked with tracking down a man accused of embezzlement. In reality, the individuals who hired him were Chinese operatives, and the target was Xu Jin, a former Chinese city official who had sought refuge in the United States with his family in 2010.
Federal prosecutors described McMahon’s actions as part of a coordinated campaign of "transnational repression," a term used by U.S. authorities to describe efforts by foreign governments—particularly China—to silence or intimidate critics and dissidents living abroad. The campaign in question was linked to China’s decade-old "Operation Fox Hunt," an initiative that Beijing claims is aimed at returning fugitives and corrupt officials to face justice. However, U.S. officials say the operation often employs harassment, threats, and even intimidation tactics against individuals the Chinese government wants back.
McMahon was convicted in 2023 of conspiracy, stalking, and illegally acting as a foreign agent. He was sentenced in spring 2025 to 18 months in prison. The federal judge overseeing his case described the operation as "a campaign of transnational repression." The prosecutors alleged that, between 2016 and 2019, McMahon and two Chinese co-defendants surveilled, harassed, and intimidated Xu Jin and his family, hoping to force them to return to China. The campaign included disparaging Facebook messages sent to friends of Xu’s adult daughter, a barrage of letters to a relative in New Jersey, and even a visit from Xu’s elderly father, who was flown in from China to pressure his son to come home.
The most chilling moment came when Xu’s wife discovered a note taped to their front door. The translated message read: "If you are willing to go back to the mainland and spend 10 years in prison, your wife and children will be all right. That’s the end of this matter!" As Xu later testified through a court interpreter, "Before seeing the note, I thought the Chinese Communist Party’s overtures were only a mental threat to me. However, when I saw that note, I realized that it had become a physical threat."
McMahon, for his part, has consistently maintained his innocence. At his sentencing, he told the court, "I never thought for one minute I was working for China, stalking anyone." He argued that he had been "unwittingly used" and that he believed he was merely following the standard procedures of a private investigator. McMahon’s lawyer, Lawrence Lustberg, echoed this sentiment, stating, "I will always believe that it was the Chinese government that victimized Mike, a true hero cop, whom our government should have celebrated and honored, rather than indicted." Lustberg called the presidential pardon "a correction of a horrible injustice."
The White House, in a statement provided to the press, highlighted McMahon’s distinguished law enforcement career. A White House official noted that McMahon earned 75 commendations during his 14-year tenure with the NYPD, including the prestigious Police Combat Cross. His career was cut short by a 2001 injury sustained during a high-speed chase, and while on modified desk duty, McMahon also responded in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The official emphasized, "Mr. McMahon is a former law enforcement officer who had a distinguished career serving with the NYPD... In reality, the people who had hired him were actually Chinese spies utilizing his services to track down an individual." The statement also cited alleged issues with McMahon’s trial, including undisclosed key interviews and claims that some witnesses fabricated incidents.
Support for McMahon was not limited to his legal team and the White House. U.S. Representatives Mike Lawler (R-N.J.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas) wrote to the court last year, backing McMahon’s assertions of innocence and urging leniency. Lawler, reacting to the news of the pardon, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the former officer "never should have been prosecuted to begin with."
The case against McMahon was the first trial victory for the U.S. Department of Justice in its efforts to counter Operation Fox Hunt. His two Chinese co-defendants were also convicted and remain in prison, while several other defendants are believed to be at large in China. Three additional individuals pleaded guilty in the broader investigation. The Brooklyn-based federal prosecutors’ office that handled the case declined to comment on the pardon.
The Chinese government has repeatedly defended Operation Fox Hunt, insisting that it is a legitimate anti-corruption campaign aimed at returning fugitives to face justice. Beijing denies employing threats or coercion to secure returns, maintaining that its actions are lawful and justified. However, critics in the U.S. and elsewhere argue that the campaign often targets political dissidents and uses intimidation tactics that violate international norms and the rights of those living abroad.
Xu Jin and his wife, who have steadfastly denied the bribery charges leveled against them by Chinese authorities, maintain that they were targeted because of internal politics within the Chinese Communist Party. With no extradition treaty between the U.S. and China, Beijing was unable to compel Xu’s return through formal legal channels—hence the alleged campaign of pressure and harassment.
McMahon’s release from prison to a halfway house earlier in 2025, and his subsequent return to his New Jersey home, marked the end of a lengthy legal ordeal. For his supporters, the presidential pardon is a long-overdue vindication. For others, it raises difficult questions about accountability, the vulnerability of private citizens to manipulation by foreign powers, and the challenges of prosecuting transnational repression in an interconnected world.
As the dust settles, the McMahon case continues to serve as a stark reminder of the complex and often dangerous intersection of international politics, law enforcement, and individual rights. While the pardon closes one chapter, the broader issues it exposes remain unresolved and deeply consequential for both U.S.-China relations and the global fight against transnational repression.
