Indian-American expert Ashley Tellis arrested for storing secret US documents; FBI flags meetings with Chinese officials

The Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tellis has been accused by the Justice Department of “printing out classified documents and storing more than 1,000 pages of highly sensitive government records in filing cabinets and trash bags at home”, according to The Associated Press (AP).

According to the US Department of Justice statement, “Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced today that Ashley Tellis, 64, of Vienna, VA, was arrested over the weekend and charged by criminal complaint with the unlawful retention of national defense information, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 793(e).”

“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,” Halligan said. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served,” she added.

If convicted, Tellis is subject to a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment and forfeiture, it said.

Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The statement also noted that a criminal complaint is “merely an accusation”. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, it said.

Tellis, who has also worked as a contractor in the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment, was charged in federal court in Virginia with the unlawful retention of national defense information after FBI agents who searched his home over the weekend found what they said was a trove of records marked as classified at the secret and top secret levels. He was ordered detained on Tuesday, pending a detention hearing next week.

In an interview with The Indian Express recently, Tellis had said that US President Donald Trump thinks of great power competition with China, but not in the traditional geopolitical sense. “He sees it as economic competition. And more than that, he thinks of the entire world as economic rivals of the United States,” Tellis said.

One of his lawyers, Deborah Curtis, told AP, “We look forward to the hearing, where we’ll be able to present evidence.” She declined to comment further.

‘Met multiple times with Chinese government officials’

According to AP, an FBI affidavit cites several instances over the last month in which “Tellis is alleged to have printed on government computers, or asked a colleague to print, classified documents on topics including U.S. military aircraft capabilities”.

“Surveillance video shows him on several occasions exiting the State Department and a Defense Department facility with a briefcase in which he was believed to have stashed the printed-out papers”, according to court documents.

“Tellis also met multiple times with Chinese government officials in recent years…Tellis arrived to one 2022 dinner with a manila folder while the Chinese officials he was meeting with entered with a gift bag,” the FBI says.

The affidavit says that Tellis did not appear to have the manila folder in his possession when he left the restaurant, but does not accuse him of providing any classified information during his meetings with the Chinese.