Indian-Origin Expert Ashley Tellis Refutes Allegations of Mishandling Classified Documents and Foreign Collusion

The legal team representing Tellis has stated they will be strongly challenging the accusations made against him.

United States:

A distinguished American scholar specializing in India studies, who was detained following claims of keeping classified information and engaging with Chinese officials, is refuting the allegations according to his attorneys on Wednesday.

Ashley Tellis, 64, who previously served in high-ranking positions during former president George W Bush's administration and continued as an unpaid consultant to the State Department, was taken into custody on Saturday and could face imprisonment for up to 10 years.

"Ashley J Tellis is a widely respected scholar and senior policy advisor," stated his attorneys, Deborah Curtis and John Nassikas, in their official release.

"We will be vigorously contesting the allegations brought against him, specifically any insinuation of his operating on behalf of a foreign adversary," they emphasized.

According to a criminal affidavit released Tuesday, Tellis entered the State Department late on September 25 and seemingly printed material from a confidential document regarding US Air Force methodologies.

It claimed that Tellis had multiple meetings with Chinese representatives at a dining establishment in Fairfax, Virginia, a Washington suburb, and during one dinner appeared to leave behind a manila envelope.

The Justice Department's announced charges focus on improper document handling rather than the meetings, with an FBI special agent reporting that a search discovered over 1,000 pages of top-secret or secret documents at his residence.

Tellis has been employed as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a prominent Washington think tank, which announced Wednesday that he has been placed on administrative leave.

A naturalized American citizen originally from India, Tellis assisted in negotiating the Bush administration's civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India, a significant advancement toward closer ties between the world's two largest democratic nations.

However, in recent years, Tellis has become a notable dissenting voice in Washington regarding India, asserting that New Delhi's interests were not aligned on numerous issues including Ukraine.