WASHINGTON: An Indian American foreign policy expert and senior adviser at the U.S. State Department has been charged in federal court for allegedly illegally retaining more than a thousand pages of classified national defense information at his home in Virginia.
The Justice Department announced that 64-year-old Ashley Tellis, who has worked in various high-level positions across the State Department and Defense Department, was arrested over the weekend.
Tellis faces charges under the Espionage Act for the unlawful retention of classified documents, including materials marked secret and top secret.
“We are fully focused on protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic. The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, according to a Justice Department statement.
“The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served,” Halligan added.
Tellis, a naturalized U.S. citizen who grew up in Mumbai and now resides in Vienna, Virginia, is widely regarded as an expert on India and South Asian affairs.
He is described as a senior fellow and the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank.
According to court documents, FBI agents discovered a significant volume of classified materials at Tellis’s home, prompting criminal charges for violating laws governing the handling of national defense information.
The documents allegedly included sensitive information related to U.S. military aircraft capabilities.
An FBI affidavit, cited by the Associated Press, details several recent instances in which Tellis allegedly printed—or asked colleagues to print—classified documents using government systems.
Surveillance footage reportedly shows him leaving State Department and Defense Department facilities on multiple occasions carrying a briefcase believed to contain the documents.
Tellis had also served as a contractor in the Office of Net Assessment at the Pentagon, a unit tasked with long-term strategic planning.
The affidavit further alleges that Tellis held multiple meetings in recent years with Chinese government officials. During a 2022 dinner, for instance, he was seen carrying a manila folder while the Chinese officials arrived with a gift bag.
The affidavit notes that Tellis did not appear to have the folder when leaving the meeting. However, it does not accuse him of directly sharing classified information during those interactions.
If convicted, Tellis faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and possible forfeiture, according to the Justice Department.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
