State Department Employee Allegedly Met With Chinese Officials And Removed Classified Docs

Original Article By Mark Tanos

Federal prosecutors accused a State Department employee of allegedly removing classified documents and meeting repeatedly with Chinese government officials over several years.

Ashley Tellis, an unpaid senior adviser to the State Department since 2001, faces charges of unlawful retention of national defense information, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia press release. The Justice Department said Tellis also worked as a contractor with the Office of Net Assessment at the Department of Defense, recently secondarily named the Department of War.

Authorities discovered more than 1,000 pages of documents marked “TOP SECRET” and “SECRET” during a search of Tellis’s Vienna, Virginia, home, according to court documents, Fox News reported.

Tellis held Top Secret clearance and accessed sensitive information as a subject-matter expert on India and South Asian affairs. He also worked as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

🚨 BREAKING: State Department employee accused of removing classified docs from secure locations, meeting with Chinese officials pic.twitter.com/c9UqKXNzMT

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Prosecutors said Tellis had a coworker at a government facility print multiple classified documents for him on Sept. 12. Two weeks later, he allegedly printed U.S. Air Force documents concerning military aircraft capabilities.

Federal authorities documented multiple meetings between Tellis and Chinese officials. In September 2022, he met Chinese officials at a Virginia restaurant while carrying a manila envelope, prosecutors said, according to the outlet.

Tellis and Chinese officials discussed Iranian-Chinese relations and emerging technologies during an April 11, 2023, restaurant meeting, authorities said. Court documents show he received a gift bag at another dinner meeting with Chinese officials on Sept. 2, the outlet reported.

The charges against Tellis come as federal authorities intensify scrutiny of potential national security threats involving classified information and foreign governments.

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