Who is Ashley Tellis, Indian-origin defense consultant arrested for spying?
What's the story
Ashley Tellis, a prominent American foreign-policy scholar and senior consultant with the US State Department, has been arrested for illegally retaining classified defense documents. The arrest comes after he was placed under surveillance three years ago. During this time, it was discovered that he had several meetings with Chinese government officials. Later, over 1,000 pages of secret documents were found in drawers and trash bags at his Virginia house.
Investigative scrutiny
Tellis met Chinese officials multiple times over the years
Tellis was under FBI surveillance from at least October 2022 for undisclosed reasons. Court documents show he met Chinese officials multiple times over the years, including a Fairfax restaurant meeting where he entered with a brown paper envelope while the officials had a gift bag. After these meetings, the FBI intensified their surveillance of Tellis.
Document access
Caught stealing classified information from a DoD facility
On September 12, Tellis was seen entering a cubicle at Mark Center, a Department of Defense (DoD) facility in Virginia, where he was filmed. He later accessed documents related to adversary combat aircraft using the US State Department's classified information system. Surveillance showed him hiding printed pages of classified information among his notepads and taking them home.
Legal proceedings
Over 1,000 pages of documents found in his home
A federal court authorized a search warrant for Tellis's Virginia home on October 11. Investigators found over 1,000 pages of documents with 'Top Secret' and 'Secret' classification markings in various locations within the house. Based on these findings, Tellis was arrested over the weekend for violating 18 USC SS 793(e), which prohibits unauthorized possession or retention of defense-related documents. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 (₹2.2 crore).
Career trajectory
Tellis was born in Mumbai
Born in Mumbai in 1961, Tellis holds a BA and MA in economics from St Xavier's College. He moved to the US for further studies, earning an MA and PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. He then became a senior policy analyst at RAND Corporation and professor of policy analysis at RAND Graduate School.
Diplomatic contributions
Special assistant to President George W. Bush
Tellis served as a senior adviser to the US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill between 2001 and 2003. He also worked on the National Security Council staff as special assistant to President George W. Bush and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia. Notably, he played a key role in the landmark 2008 US-India civil nuclear agreement during Bush's presidency.