Ashley Tellis, a Pentagon contractor and State Department adviser, was charged with removing classified documents after over a thousand marked files were found at his Virginia home.

Many of the documents reportedly relate to Air Force tactics and techniques, and Tellis allegedly met multiple times with Chinese government officials in recent years.

In April 2023, he dined with Chinese officials in a DC suburb, discussing topics including Iranian-Chinese relations and emerging technologies like AI.

Tellis, also a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, made his initial court appearance Tuesday, with a detention hearing set for October 21, CNN has reported.

Authorities have not yet confirmed whether he shared any classified information with the Chinese government, but US officials highlight China as a top counterintelligence threat.