US State Department employee Ashley Tellis, who was arrested for illegally storing more than 1,000 pages of classified documents at his home in Northern Virginia, appeared in court on Tuesday, October 21st for a detention hearing.
Deputy Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said, “The FBI has arrested Ashley Tellis, a senior adviser to the State Department and a contractor within the Department of Defense, for allegedly removing more than a thousand pages of classified national defense information from government facilities and storing it at his home.”
Read also | Tellis accused of keeping classified documents, placed on vacation at Carnegie
Meanwhile, Deputy Director Darren B. Cox of the FBI’s Washington Field Office said Tellis betrayed a trust by “allegedly removing classified documents from government facilities and storing them in his basement.”
He said the FBI and our federal partners acted quickly to execute the search warrant and arrest Tellis to “protect our national security and prevent highly classified defense information from falling into the wrong hands.”
Read also | Indian-origin expert Ashley Tellis accused of meetings in China denies the allegations
U.S. Attorney Halligan, Eastern District of Virginia: “The allegations in this case pose a serious risk to the safety and security of our citizens. The facts and law in this case are clear and we will continue to follow them to ensure that justice is served.”
“This arrest should serve as a stark warning to anyone thinking of undermining national security. The FBI and our partners will do everything in our power to find you and hold you accountable,” Rozhavskij said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia said, “We are fully focused on protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic. The allegations in this case pose a serious risk to the safety and security of our citizens.”
Why was he arrested?
According to a White House press release, Tellis allegedly accessed classified documents from secure facilities on multiple occasions, including the Defense Department’s Sensitive Information Facility (SCIF) and the State Department’s secure computer system.
In one instance, Tellis changed the file name of a classified document, printed parts of it under the changed name, and then deleted the renamed file, the White House document read.
Read also | US foreign policy expert Ashley Tellis held; accused of receiving secret documents
“In another incident, he was observed putting classified materials into a notebook and hiding them in his personal briefcase before leaving a secure government facility,” it added.
During a search of Tellis’ residence, investigators found over 1,000 pages of classified documents, including material marked SECRET and/or TOP SECRET.
These documents were found in locked filing cabinets, in the basement home office, and in trash bags stored in the basement.
The FBI in Washington is investigating the case with valuable assistance from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Schlessinger for the Eastern District of Virginia and District Attorney Leslie Esbrook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Division.
Read also | US foreign policy expert Ashley Tellis held; accused of receiving secret documents
Who was Tellis?
Tellis is a former staff member of the White House National Security Council and a current adviser to the State Department. In his role in the Office of Net Assessment, he was considered an expert on India and South Asia.
According to court documents, Tellis held a Top Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).
He has been with the US State Department since 2001 and currently serves as a contractor for the Defense Network Evaluation Office.
He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
