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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know US Affairs News India Times (October 25, 2025 - October 31, 2025) October 31, 2025 7 Indian American Scholar Charged In Classified-Records Case Denies Leaking To China A U.S. foreign policy adviser who is accused of keeping more than 1,000 pages of classified records in his basement has been cooperat- ing with investigators since his arrest and was released from jail to home confinement Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Ashley J. Tellis, an expert on Indian and South Asian affairs who has worked in Washington think-tank and diplomatic circles for more than 20 years, was ar- rested this month after the FBI searched his Vienna, Virginia, residence and found a trove of classified records in a basement home office area. Federal prosecutors charged Tellis, 64, with one count of re- taining national defense information. A former staffer on the National Secu- rity Council during President GeorgeW. Bush’s administration and senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador to India, Tellis maintained a top-secret security clear- ance through his roles as an adviser to the Defense and State departments. His at- torneys pushed back on a Justice Depart- ment legal filing in the case that suggested Tellis may have been leaking classified defense records to China. Prosecutors have not charged Tellis with transmitting classified records. “Any insinuation that Dr. Tellis has disclosed classified information – let alone to a foreign government – lacks any evidentiary basis,” defense attorneys John Nassikas and Deborah Curtis said in a court filing. “Regrettably, investigators appeared to interpret his routine profes- sional duties, such as liaison work and in- ternational travel, as clandestine activity, reading something sinister into what were standard think-tank and scholarly foreign policy engagements.” In an affidavit, an FBI agent described how Tellis had dined with Chinese of- ficials in Northern Virginia at least four times from 2022 to last month. At the first of those meetings, according to the FBI affidavit, Tellis arrived with a manila enve- lope that he did not appear to have as he departed. At the most recent dinner last month, Chinese officials gave Tellis a “red gift bag,” the FBI agent said. Tellis’s attorneys said the mention of the gift bag implied “that something ne- farious occurred.” “But the red gift bag contained tea – a common gift in Asian cultures,” the attor- neys said. Tellis’s wife showed the bag to the FBI during their search, and although it was initially marked as potential evi- dence, the agents later removed the mark- ing and left it at the residence, Nassikas and Curtis said. Inside the manila enve- lope, they added, was probably a printout of an article Tellis had written, as he was known to hand those out at meetings. “There’s nothing wrong to be meet- ing with military attaches from China, from Pakistan, from whatever country,” Nassikas said at a hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, federal court Tuesday. In foreign policy circles, it’s considered “routine” to exchange modest gifts, he said. “The sole charge against him involves the unlawful retention of national defense information – not its dissemination,” the attorneys wrote. “There is no allegation, let alone evidence, that Dr. Tellis ever shared, attempted to share, or intended to share national defense information with unauthorized individuals.” A federal magistrate judge granted a joint request from prosecutors and Tellis’s attorneys for home confinement pending trial. Tellis had been in jail since his arrest Oct. 11. “For those entrusted with our country’s most sensitive information, protecting it is a privilege and solemn responsibility,” Sue J. Bai, a top prosecutor in the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in a statement Tuesday. “With the hard work and dedication of our prosecu- tors and agents, we will hold this defen- dant accountable for breaching that trust and exploiting his security clearance to unlawfully retain classified information detailing our military capabilities.” Tellis will be meeting for the first time with prosecutors and FBI officials on Nov. 4 to discuss “possible resolutions of the case, including any potential resolution prior to indictment,” according to court records. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema agreed to extend to two months the usual one-month deadline to obtain an indictment after an arrest as negotia- tions continue, according to a court order. -TheWashington Post By Salvador Rizzo Florida Politician Chandler Langevin Draws Outrage Over Calls For Mass Ouster Of Indian Immigrants A Florida city council member has drawn the ire of national Indian American groups, members of Congress and local residents after he published a stream of social media posts disparaging Indians in the United States and calling for their mass deporta- tion. Palm Bay council member Chandler Langevin, who was elected last year, lambasted Indians in posts on X, writing over about three weeks this fall that Indians come to the U.S. to “drain our pockets” and then return to India, “or worse … to stay.” Outrage over his comments has upended the com- munity and rippled beyond it. Since Sept. 29, residents and members of regional and national Indian American groups have flooded meetings at Palm Bay’s city council chambers, released statements denouncing his remarks and demanded his resignation. Late Thursday, Langevin’s fellow council members voted 3-2 to censure him.“We’re all overwhelmed by everything,” Mayor Rob Medina, who is a member of the council, said during the meeting. “This nation was found- ed on immigrants. …We are all part of the very fabric of the flag, our banner, the United States of America.” National advocacy group Hindus for Human Rights has published a letter calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) – who under Florida law has the power to suspend municipal officials – to remove Langevin from office. At an Oct. 2 council meeting, Bharat Patel, the former chair of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, said the council member’s remarks “echo some of history’s dark- est rhetoric,” potentially even inspiring acts of violence. Prashant Patel, president of the Indian American Busi- ness Association and Chamber, told council members that Langevin’s actions are deeply polarizing. In a phone call with TheWashington Post onWednes- day, Langevin said he had aimed to start “discourse” about immigration policies. “I’m not the first Republican to make a mean tweet,” he said. Palm Bay, on Florida’s eastern coast, has also sent a let- ter to DeSantis demanding that he remove Langevin from office. DeSantis’s office has not responded to the letter nor to The Post’s requests for comment. Meanwhile, local and national Republican Party mem- bers, including the Brevard County Republican Party, Rep. Mike Haridopolos (Florida) and Sen. Rick Scott (Florida), have also denounced Langevin’s rhetoric. “Even though Mr. Langevin is a registered Republican, his views are his, and his alone and in no way reflect the views of the Brevard Republican Party,” Brevard County Republican Party chairman Rick Lacey said in a state- ment. “We applaud the overwhelming majority vote of the Palm Bay City Council to request Governor DeSantis suspend Mr. Langevin from his office. …Hate like this has no place in our county.” Langevin said the city council’s censure, calls for his removal and condemnation from fellow Republicans are “reprehensible” and represent a stifling of different view- points. He added that he has no intention of abdicating his seat. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. It’s unclear how many Indians live in Palm Bay, the largest city in Brevard County, which voted overwhelm- ingly for President Donald Trump in last year’s election. About 2 percent of the city’s roughly 135,000 residents identify as Asian, Census data show. There are no telltale signs of an established Indian community: The near- est Indian restaurant appears to be one town over, in Melbourne, and there appear to be no Indian grocers in the area. About 5 million people in the U.S. identified as Indian in 2023, but little of that population lives in Florida. The population was just shy of 210,000 in the state as of 2024, according to AAPI Data, a nonpartisan research group focused on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. When asked why he homed in on the Indian com- munity despite its slim presence in his city and state, Langevin told The Post he would respond in writing. He did not. -TheWashington Post By Anumita Kaur PHOTO:FACEBOOK @CHANDLERFORPB/ Palm Bay, Florida, City Councilman Chandler Langevin.