Recently, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of Ashley Tellis, a senior State Department adviser accused of meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and hiding classified documents in his home.

Our Monthly Ministry Partners are the lifeblood of IFA.
Join today.

View Comments (3)

From the Daily Wire:

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that 64-year-old Ashley Tellis was arrested by the FBI over the weekend and charged with the unlawful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act. Tellis has worked for the State Department since 2001 and has a Top Secret security clearance.

An FBI raid of his Vienna, Virginia, home on October 11 found more than 1,000 pages of documents marked “Top Secret” or “Secret,” according to an FBI affidavit. The document also said that Tellis had met with Chinese government officials to discuss international affairs and received a red gift bag at one such meeting.

“We are fully focused on protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic. The charges as alleged in this case represent a grave risk to the safety and security of our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”

Tellis, according to the Daily Wire, was a contractor for the Office of Net Assessment at the Pentagon. On September 12, surveillance footage reportedly showed Tellis arriving at a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility at a Pentagon building in Alexandria, Virginia. According to the affadavit, Tellis “ad a co-worker print multiple classified documents for him that day.” These documents were reportedly kept in his cubicle until October 10, when he placed them in his briefcase before leaving the building.

The Daily Wire notes that Tellis also obtained classified documents on September 25, when he entered a State Department building and printed “hundreds of pages of secret information on Air Force techniques and procedures.”

Most alarmingly, Tellis reportedly met with Chinese officials multiple times. The Daily Wire notes that, in the first meeting, Tellis met Chinese officials at a restaurant in Fairfax, bringing a manilla envelope with him. He latter left the restaurant without the envelope and with a “gift bag,” according to the affidavit. Was this mysterious envelope filled with documents he had taken from the Pentagon?

Tellis, who has denied all scandalous accusations, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. As his case plays out, let’s pray for justice to be served and for our national secrets to be protected.

How are you praying? Share your prayers and scriptures below.

(Excerpt from the Daily Wire. Photo Credit: DoD photo by Master Sgt. Ken Hammond, U.S. Air Force)