US arrests Indian-origin senior adviser Ashley Tellis for allegedly keeping classified ‘national defense information’ | World News
According to the statement, Tellis, 64, a resident of Vienna, Virginia, was taken into custody over the weekend. (File Photo)
Ashley J Tellis, a well-known foreign policy expert and defence strateg of Indian origin, has been arrested in the United States on charge of “unlawfully retaining classified national defence information”. The announcement was made the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern Drict of Virginia in a statement issued on October 14.
According to the statement, Tellis, 64, a resident of Vienna, Virginia, was taken into custody over the weekend and charged a criminal complaint pertaining to unlawful retention of national defence material.
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US Attorney Lindsey Halligan, in a statement, said the allegations represent a serious breach of national security. “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, adding that prosecutors would continue to pursue justice in accordance with the law.
Who is Ashley Tellis?
According to Reuters, Tellis previously served on the National Security Council under former Republican President George W Bush. Court documents reviewed Reuters show that Tellis is led on an FBI affidavit as an unpaid adviser to the US State Department and a contractor for the Pentagon.
He is also a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank.
According to the FBI affidavit cited Reuters. Tellis held a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information due to his work with the State Department and Pentagon. The affidavit alleges that in September and October this year, Tellis entered Defense and State Department buildings, accessed and printed classified materials, including documents related to military aircraft capabilities, and was later seen leaving with a leather bag or briefcase.
A search of Tellis’s Vienna, Virginia, home on Saturday reportedly uncovered more than a thousand pages of classified material marked “Top Secret” and “Secret,” the affidavit stated.
It also claimed that Tellis met Chinese government officials multiple times over the past few years, including at a September 15 dinner in Fairfax, Virginia, where he was seen arriving with a manila envelope that he no longer had when he left.
A State Department official confirmed Tellis’s arrest, reported Reuters, but declined to provide further details. A Pentagon spokesperson similarly said the department does not comment on ongoing legal matters.
Possible penalties
If convicted, Tellis faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, a $100 special assessment, and possible forfeiture, the Attorney’s Office said.
However, it noted that sentences in federal cases are “typically less than maximum penalties”. A drict judge will decide the sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The office also emphasised that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation, and that Tellis “is presumed innocent until proven guilty”.
