State Dept Adviser Accused Of Taking Classified Docs, Meeting Chinese Officials
A senior adviser to the State Department has been charged with unlawfully retaining classified U.S. defense materials and holding a series of undisclosed meetings with Chinese government officials — a case that raises fresh alarms about foreign infiltration inside Washington’s national security establishment.
Federal prosecutors allege that Ashley Tellis, a longtime foreign policy strategist with deep ties to the U.S. defense and diplomatic community, removed more than a thousand classified documents from secure government facilities. According to Fox News, Tellis faces charges of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Tellis, who possessed a top-secret clearance, served as an unpaid senior adviser to the State Department while also working as a contractor for the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment — recently rebranded the Department of War. Court filings describe him as a South Asia and India policy expert who had access to some of the nation’s most sensitive intelligence.
Investigators say Tellis began working for the government in 2001 and continued to receive classified materials throughout his tenure. A search of his Virginia home allegedly uncovered more than a thousand pages of documents labeled “TOP SECRET” and “SECRET.”
Federal agents claim Tellis printed classified materials multiple times this year — including Air Force reports on U.S. military aircraft capabilities — and personally requested coworkers to print additional restricted files.
More troubling, prosecutors say Tellis met repeatedly with Chinese government officials from 2022 through 2023 while in possession of or discussing classified information. One of those encounters allegedly occurred in September 2022 at a Virginia restaurant, where he was seen carrying a manila envelope during a meeting with Chinese representatives. Another dinner in April 2023 reportedly involved conversations about Iranian-Chinese relations and emerging technologies.
At a separate dinner on Sept. 2, 2023, investigators say Tellis received a “gift bag” from Chinese officials — a potential red flag for improper influence or espionage.
Authorities have not yet determined whether Tellis transferred or compromised any classified information, but the probe remains active. He is currently being held pending a detention hearing.
Neither the State Department nor the Pentagon has commented on the charges. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where Tellis previously served as a senior fellow, also declined to issue a statement.
If convicted, Tellis could face up to 10 years in federal prison.
The arrest comes amid a growing wave of Chinese espionage cases across the United States. In June, the Justice Department announced the guilty plea of Yuanjun Tang, a naturalized U.S. citizen accused of secretly working for the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) — Beijing’s primary intelligence agency.
Court filings reveal that Tang, 68, previously fled communist China after participating in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Despite gaining political asylum in the United States, prosecutors say Tang began acting as a covert MSS agent in 2018, spying on Chinese dissidents and democracy activists living in the U.S.
Tang allegedly photographed and identified participants at pro-democracy events, collected contact information, and even provided details on U.S. asylum procedures — all at the request of Chinese intelligence handlers. He was compensated for his activities and made multiple trips to Macau and mainland China for direct meetings and polygraph sessions with MSS officers.
These back-to-back revelations underscore the urgent national security threat posed by Beijing’s espionage network — one that President Donald J. Trump’s administration has vowed to dismantle through aggressive counterintelligence efforts and stricter security oversight.