ALEXANDRIA (Diya TV) — A federal judge in Virginia has dismissed an Espionage Act case against Indian American strategic affairs scholar Ashley J. Tellis after ruling that prosecutors charged him under the wrong section of federal law.
U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff dismissed the case on April 16 following arguments in federal court in Alexandria. The judge dismissed the charges without prejudice, which means federal prosecutors can file a new case under a different statute.
Federal prosecutors charged Tellis under Section 793(e) of the Espionage Act. That provision covers the willful retention of national defense information by people who possess such material without authorization. Prosecutors accused Tellis of removing and storing classified records at his home while serving in senior advisory roles connected to the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense.
A superseding indictment alleged that Tellis retained 11 classified documents containing national defense information. Prosecutors claimed he removed the materials from secure government locations and kept both hard-copy and digital records at his residence.
The indictment alleged that Tellis “exploited his access to classified information related to the national defense” by storing the material outside approved secure facilities. However, Tellis’ legal team argued that the government used the wrong subsection of the Espionage Act because Tellis held authorized access to the documents during his government service.
Tellis’ attorneys said Section 793(e) only applies to individuals who possess classified information without authorization. They argued that the indictment itself acknowledged that Tellis had a high-level security clearance and lawful access to sensitive national security material.
The defense stated that Tellis “was entrusted with the relevant documents” and therefore did not meet the legal standard required under the statute cited by prosecutors. His lawyers also noted that the government never accused Tellis of sharing classified information with unauthorized people or accessing files outside his approved clearance level.
Court filings from the defense argued that prosecutors could have used other federal laws instead. Those laws included Section 793(d) of the Espionage Act or Section 1924, which addresses the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents by government employees. According to the defense, prosecutors “deliberately chose to limit its indictment to the wrong provision.”
During earlier stages of the case, federal prosecutors opposed requests to ease Tellis’ bail conditions. Government lawyers argued that Tellis posed a flight risk and a possible national security threat because investigators allegedly found large amounts of classified material in his possession.
In court filings, prosecutors said Tellis possessed “tens of thousands of pages of classified material,” including more than 1,000 pages marked Top Secret. The government also claimed that some documents involved sensitive information about China’s nuclear and military capabilities. Prosecutors further argued that Tellis retained “decades’ worth of sensitive national defense information in his head.”
Despite those concerns, the judge dismissed the case based on the legal issue surrounding the statute used in the indictment. After the dismissal, Tellis filed an unopposed request asking the court to release his secured bond. Prosecutors did not challenge that motion.
A separate court order later directed the government to respond to Tellis’ request for the return of property seized during the investigation.
The dismissal does not fully end the matter because federal prosecutors still have the option to pursue new charges under a different law.
Tellis has advised the U.S. government on Indo-Pacific security issues and international defense strategy for many years. He remains well known in policy and academic circles for his work on U.S.-India relations and Asian security matters. The case also emerged during a period of heightened scrutiny over the handling of classified documents by current and former government officials.
