A State Department adviser allegedly retained classified documents and met with officials from China<\/p>\n
A prominent India expert and adviser to the US State Department has been charged with the unauthorized retention of more than 1,000 pages of classified defense information, officials announced on Tuesday.
\nAshley J. Tellis, a senior fellow and Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, was arrested after a federal investigation into the handling of classified material, according to a statement from the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan.
\nProsecutors alleged that Tellis violated a section which prohibits unauthorized possession or retention of defense-related documents. \u201cThe charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,\u201d Halligan said.
\nInvestigators are examining claims that Tellis improperly removed classified documents from secure locations and met with Chinese officials as part of their probe.<\/p>\n
South Asian Defence Expert Arrested in \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Over Espionage AllegationsAshley Tellis has been charged with unlawfully retaining classified national defence information, according to the US Attorney\u2019s Office in Virginia, which said the alleged conduct posed \u201ca grave risk to the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/ecWHFvxiks\u2014 RT_India (@RT_India_news) October 15, 2025 <\/p>\n
If convicted, Tellis could face up to ten years\u2019 imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000, the statement said.
\nThe Justice Department said Tellis, who is of Indian descent, was an unpaid senior adviser to the State Department and also a contractor with the Office of Net Assessment at the Department of Defense (recently renamed the Department of War), according to a Fox News report.<\/p>\n
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Tellis began working for the State Department in 2001, as per court documents cited by Fox News.
\nDuring a search of his Vermont residence, authorities found more than a thousand pages of documents marked \u201cTOP SECRET\u201d and \u201cSECRET,\u201d according to court documents cited in media reports.
\nFederal prosecutors claim that Tellis printed US Air Force documents on September 25, which contained information on military aircraft capabilities. They also allege that he had a series of meetings with Chinese government officials over the past few years.
\nTellis has long been regarded as one of Washington\u2019s foremost experts on South Asian security and US-India relations. He also served on the National Security Council as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A State Department adviser allegedly retained classified documents and met with officials from China A prominent India expert and adviser to the US State Department has been charged with the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t