7 months ago
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A U.S. State Department worker has been accused of unlawfully removing classified documents from unafraid authorities locations and holding aggregate meetings with Chinese officials dating backmost to 2023, Fox News reported.
According to the Justice Department, Ashley Tellis served arsenic an unpaid elder advisor to the State Department and was besides a contractor with the Office of Net Assessment astatine the Department of Defense, precocious renamed the Department of War.
In his relation astatine the Office of Net Assessment, helium was considered a subject-matter adept connected India and South Asian affairs.
Court documents authorities that Tellis began moving for the State Department successful 2001. He has been accused of unlawful retention of nationalist defence information, according to an affidavit filed successful court.
Federal prosecutors said that Tellis held a top-secret clearance and had entree to delicate information. He was besides employed arsenic a elder chap astatine the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Fox News reported.
During a hunt of his residence successful Vienna, Virginia, authorities recovered much than a 1000 pages of documents marked "TOP SECRET" and "SECRET," arsenic per tribunal filings. On September 12, Tellis allegedly asked a coworker astatine a authorities installation to people aggregate classified documents for him.
Later, connected September 25, helium is said to person printed U.S. Air Force documents related to subject craft capabilities, according to prosecutors.
Federal officials further alleged that Tellis met with Chinese authorities representatives respective times implicit the past fewer years. In 1 specified lawsuit successful September 2022, helium reportedly met Chinese officials astatine a edifice successful Virginia portion holding a manila envelope, prosecutors said.
During different gathering connected April 11, 2023, Tellis and the Chinese officials were heard discussing Iranian-Chinese relations and emerging technologies implicit dinner, authorities added. Court documents besides noted that Tellis received a acquisition container during a meal gathering with Chinese officials connected September 2.
Fox News reported that the Justice Department continues to analyse the case, with national prosecutors highlighting the delicate quality of the documents recovered from Tellis's home.
