Journalism of Courage
Ashley Tellis, a prominent expert on US-India relations and an adviser to the American government, will challenge charges related to mishandling classified documents, his lawyers said on Wednesday.
Tellis, 64, who previously served on the National Security Council under former President George W Bush was arrested over the weekend and charged on Monday with unlawful retention of national defense information.
According to an FBI affidavit cited by Reuters, he was listed as an unpaid adviser to the State Department and a contractor with the Pentagon.
His attorneys, Deborah Curtis and John Nassikas of the Arnold & Porter law firm, said in a statement, according to Reuters, that Tellis “is a widely respected scholar and senior policy advisor” and would be “vigorously contesting the allegations brought against him, specifically any insinuation of his operating on behalf of a foreign adversary.”
The affidavit stated that in September and October, Tellis was seen inside Pentagon and State Department buildings accessing and printing classified material, including documents related to military aircraft capabilities.
A search of his Vienna, Virginia, home on Saturday reportedly turned up over a thousand pages of documents marked “top secret” and “secret”.
Investigators also cited multiple meetings between Tellis and Chinese government officials, including a dinner on September 15 where he allegedly arrived carrying a manila envelope that he did not appear to have when leaving.
Tellis has held a long career in US national security.
He previously served on the National Security Council under former Republican President George W Bush and began working for the State Department in 2001 as an unpaid senior adviser. He also contracted with the Office of Net Assessment at the Department of Defense, recently renamed the Department of War.
He is considered as a subject-matter expert on India and South Asian affairs, reported Fox News.
The case is being prosecuted by Lindsey Halligan, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who previously served as a personal lawyer to Donald Trump. According to the Justice Department, Tellis faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if found guilty.
(With inputs from agencies)
