Who is Ashley Tellis, India-origin US expert arrested by FBI over classified documents?

In a dramatic development that sent ripples through diplomatic and strategic circles in Washington and New Delhi alike, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested prominent foreign policy scholar Ashley J Tellis on charges of unlawfully retaining highly classified national defence information.

Tellis, widely regarded as one of the most influential voices on US-India relations, is accused of mishandling top secret documents from the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment, where he once worked as a contractor.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), FBI agents seized over 1,000 pages of classified material from Tellis’s residence in Vienna, Virginia, including documents marked Top Secret and Secret.

Prosecutors allege that Tellis “knowingly removed and retained” sensitive material related to US military aircraft and defence planning without authorisation, in violation of federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 793(e) -- a statute that prohibits the unlawful retention of national defense information. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI investigation began after internal security logs reportedly showed that Tellis printed classified documents from secure systems and exited government facilities carrying files and envelopes that were never returned. Surveillance footage cited in court filings allegedly shows Tellis leaving a Defence Department building with folders and a manila envelope.

What has added intrigue to the case are references in the FBI affidavit to Tellis’s meetings with Chinese government officials, including one in 2022 at a Washington restaurant, where he was seen carrying documents in an envelope.

While the DoJ has not accused him of espionage or of transferring information to any foreign power, investigators said the circumstances “raise significant counterintelligence concerns.”

Who is Tellis?

Tellis, 64, is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and served on the US National Security Council during President George W Bush’s administration.

Born in Mumbai, and educated at St Xavier’s College and later the University of Chicago, he has long been a respected voice on Asian geopolitics, nuclear strategy, and India-US relations.

His writings and advisory roles helped shape Washington’s policy towards New Delhi, especially during the formative years of the India-US civil nuclear agreement.

The Justice Department, in a statement, said the case “represents a grave breach of trust by an individual who had privileged access to national defense information.” It, however, emphasised that a criminal complaint is merely an allegation and that Tellis “is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

In Washington, the arrest has stunned the foreign policy community. Several former officials and scholars described Tellis as a “brilliant but fiercely independent analyst,” expressing disbelief at the charges.

In New Delhi, the development has sparked political and diplomatic debate. Some ruling party voices described his detention as “a reminder of hidden foreign influences” within Western think tanks shaping South Asia policy.

“This explains why Ashley Tellis, often cited and celebrated by India’s opposition, spoke so frequently and harshly against us. The forces working against India are beginning to unravel in ways few could have imagined,” BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya wrote on X.

Tellis is currently being held in federal custody and is expected to appear for a detention hearing later this week. His legal team has yet to issue a formal statement, though sources close to the defence said they are preparing to challenge the prosecution’s claims, arguing that the documents were “research materials” rather than restricted files.

The arrest marks one of the most serious prosecutions involving the alleged mishandling of US defence secrets in recent years.