High-Ranking State Department Adviser Accused of Swiping Documents, Meeting with Chinese

A senior adviser at the State Department, considered one of the department’s leading experts on India and South Asia affairs, is accused of stealing and storing more than 1,000 pages of classified documents in his home. 

Ashley Tellis was charged in federal court after the FBI searched his Northern Virginia home and found over 1,000 records market SECRET and/or TOP SECRET, stored in filing cabinets and trash bags. Some of the documents accessed referred to Air Force tactics and techniques according to court records. 

Tellis, who served on the National Security Council under former President George W. Bush, also worked as a contractor at the Office of Net Assessment at the Department of Defense and served as a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

“U.S. government security clearance holders are entrusted to keep our nation’s most sensitive secrets safe,” said Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox of the FBI Washington Field Office. “By allegedly removing classified documents from government facilities and storing them in his basement, Mr. Tellis betrayed that trust.” 

China Connection

According to court documents, Tellis accessed classified documents on multiple occasions from secured facilities, including a computer system at the State Department and the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) at the Department of Defense. In one instance, he changed the file name of a classified document, printed portions, and then deleted the file. In another, he was observed placing classified documents into a notepad and hiding them with his briefcase before leaving the government facility. 

The FBI also notes that Tellis met with Chinese government officials on many occasions in recent years, including an April 2023 dinner outside Washington, where Tellis and the officials “could be occasionally overheard talking about Iranian-Chinese relations and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.”

The FBI Washington Field Office is investigating the case, with assistance from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.

Lawyers for Tellis say he’s innocent. 

"Ashley J Tellis is a widely respected scholar and senior policy advisor," his lawyers said, adding that they will contest the allegations,"specifically any insinuation of his operating on behalf of a foreign adversary.”