Ashley Tellis, a leading expert on United States-India relations who has advised successive US administrations has been arrested and charged with unlawful retention of national defense information, including over a thousand pages of top secret and secret documents at his home.

The FBI affidavit accompanying the charge document said that in September and October this year Tellis entered Defense and State Department buildings and was observed accessing and printing classified documents, including about military aircraft capabilities, and leaving by car with a leather briefcase or bag.

Tellis also met multiple times with Chinese government officials in recent years, according to the affidavit. Tellis arrived to one 2022 dinner with a manila folder while the Chinese officials he was meeting with entered with a gift bag, the FBI says. The affidavit says Tellis did not appear to have the manila folder in his possession when he left the restaurant, but does not accuse him of providing any classified information during his meetings with the Chinese, reported AP.

The affidavit said a search of Tellis' residence in Vienna, Virginia, on Saturday uncovered over a thousand pages of classified documents with top secret and secret markings.

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A Justice Department statement said that if convicted, Tellis faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Tellis served on the National Security Council of former Republican President George W. Bush and is listed in an FBI court affidavit as an unpaid adviser to the State Department and a Pentagon contractor.

Tellis is also a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.