CHINESE SPY: State Department Official Removed ‘TOP SECRET” Classified Docs, Met with Chinese Officials

“During a search of his residence in Vienna, Virginia, authorities recovered more than a thousand pages of documents marked “TOP SECRET” and “SECRET,” as per court filings…Federal officials further alleged that Tellis met with Chinese government representatives several times over the past few years..”

What happened to people going to jail for this?

Ashley Tellis is a Chinese spy. The man who single-handedly poisoned many in DC think-tanks against India with his 2023 article in @ForeignAffairs, America’s bad bet on India. The latest of his appalling and spiteful screed was India’s great power delusions. Now we know why. pic.twitter.com/hNxwKNSRwA

— eeta (@eeta) October 15, 2025

Ashley J. Tellis, an Indian-born senior fellow and Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. as well as a former staffer on the White House National Security Council under President George W. Bush, has been arrested on… pic.twitter.com/YVUNXhvsq2

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 15, 2025

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

The Justice Department says Ashley Tellis was a subject matter expert on India and South Asian affairs

By Louis Casiano, Fox News, October 14, 2025:

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.
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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.

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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