State Department employee allegedly removed classified docs, met with Chinese officials

A State Department employee is accused of removing classified documents from secure locations and meeting with Chinese officials dating back to 2023.

The Justice Department said Ashley Tellis was an unpaid senior adviser to the State Department and also a contractor with the Office of Net Assessment at the Department of Defense, recently renamed the Department of War. He is considered a subject-matter expert on India and South Asian affairs in his role at the Office of Net Assessment.

Tellis began working for the State Department in 2001, court documents state. He is accused of unlawful retention of national defense information, according to an affidavit. 

He held a top-secret clearance and had access to sensitive information, federal prosecutors said in court documents. He was also employed as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

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Ashley Tellis, senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, photographed on March 15, 2014, in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint via Getty Images)

During a search of his Vienna, Va., home, authorities found more than a thousand pages of documents marked "TOP SECRET" and "SECRET," according to court documents.

On Sept. 12, Tellis had a coworker at a government facility print multiple classified documents for him, authorities said.

On Sept. 25, he allegedly printed U.S. Air Force documents concerning military aircraft capabilities. Federal prosecutors allege that he met with Chinese government officials multiple times over the past several years.

Ashley Tellis, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, speaks during a panel discussion on India's relationship with the United States, at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2007.  (AFP PHOTO/SAUL LOEB)

In September 2022, he met with Chinese officials at a Virginia restaurant while holding a manila envelope, prosecutors said.

During a meeting on April 11, 2023, Tellis and Chinese officials were heard talking about Iranian-Chinese relations and emerging technologies while dining at a restaurant, authorities said.

He received a gift bag at a Sept. 2 dinner meeting with Chinese officials as well, court documents state.

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Ashley Tellis, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., seen at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi, India. (Bandeep Singh/The The India Today Group)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department, Department of War and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace for comment.

This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.