Ashley J Tellis, Indian-origin US advisor on foreign policy accused of retaining classified documents and meeting Chinese officials, has denied all charges against him. A day after his arrest, the US scholar’s lawyers said he would contest all allegations against him.

Tellis, a prominent foreign policy expert who had been serving as an adviser to the US State Department since 2001, was taken into custody after making an initial court appearance in Virginia on Tuesday (local time).

“We will be vigorously contesting the allegations brought against him, specifically any insinuation of his operating on behalf of a foreign adversary,” Tellis’s lawyers were quoted as saying by news agency AFP. They defended the Indian-origin scholar as “widely respected”.

When reached for a comment, the US State Department confirmed that Tellis was arrested. “As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further on the case,” the department told HT, adding that the FBI could provide additional information on the case.

Charges against Ashley J Tellis

According to an affidavit in the Virginia district court that HT accessed, Ashley J Tellis has been accused of illegally retaining confidential documents, and holding several meetings with Chinese officials.

The meetings with Chinese government officials allegedly took place in Fairfax, Virginia, between September 2022 and September 2025, as per the court affidavit.

The Iranian-Chinese relations and the US-Pakistan relations were among some topics Tellis and the Chinese officials were allegedly overheard talking about. The affidavit specifically points out to a meeting on September 15, 2022: “Tellis entered the restaurant with a manila envelope” which “did not appear” to be in his possession when he departed, it states.