A federal employee entrusted with specialized technical knowledge is now accused of trying to put that knowledge in the hands of an Iran-backed terrorist organization.

The Justice Department announced Thursday that Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, a Department of Energy employee from Richland, Washington, had been arrested on a charge of attempting to provide material support or resources to the Houthis.

The allegations involve far more than online rhetoric.

Federal investigators say Ellaboudy acquired chemicals commonly used to make homemade explosives, bought components used in drones and remotely operated aircraft, traveled into Yemen with an official U.S. passport and later offered engineering assistance to people he believed were connected to a Houthi colonel.

The arrest immediately drew attention from security watchers because it combines alleged government access, technical expertise, drones and an active foreign terrorist organization.

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According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI began examining Ellaboudy after receiving information that he had purchased precursor chemicals, components and other materials associated with improvised explosive devices.

Investigators also found purchases of parts used to construct drones and remotely operated aerial systems. The complaint alleges that Ellaboudy took sick leave in December 2024 after claiming exposure to highly concentrated nitric acid, a chemical that can be used in explosive materials.

In September 2025, prosecutors say, he used an official passport issued during earlier employment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to travel from Washington state to Oman and then cross into Yemen.

Upon returning, he allegedly told Customs and Border Protection officers that the trip involved official government business and the inspection of defense facilities. His DOE supervisor later told investigators that no such travel had been authorized.

That alleged use of an official passport is one of the most alarming pieces of the case.

The government is accusing Ellaboudy of conduct far beyond private sympathy for the Houthis. Prosecutors say he tried to exploit the credibility and access associated with U.S. government service while concealing what he was doing from his employer.

The complaint further alleges that Ellaboudy began communicating with an FBI confidential human source who claimed to work for a Houthi colonel. Investigators say the supposed project involved communications equipment for a mobile command center in Yemen.

Ellaboudy allegedly used his electrical-engineering background to test and modify solar generators and communications equipment. He is also accused of providing schematics, explaining how power and communications systems should be integrated and researching additional equipment that could improve Houthi capabilities.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the accusations are so disturbing that they nearly defy imagination. He emphasized that the alleged conduct involved a U.S. government employee attempting to aid a foreign terrorist organization backed by Iran.

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The Houthis are not an abstract threat. The group has spent years attacking shipping, firing missiles and drones and destabilizing one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.

Two same-day posts circulated the Justice Department’s announcement as the facts began to emerge.

The Associated Press reported that the government believes Ellaboudy intended to help the Houthis improve their communications capabilities.

According to an FBI affidavit described by the AP, Ellaboudy told informants that he had been smuggled into and out of Yemen and hoped to reach the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa to establish government-level contacts.

Investigators say he failed to reach Sanaa, yet his alleged effort continued after he returned. The AP also reported that court records did not yet list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if he is convicted. Ellaboudy is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate judge in Richland on Friday.

There is one important boundary in the government’s account.

The Department of Energy’s Hanford Field Office said the case did not involve an attempt to harm the Hanford Site or its workforce and that the facility was never under threat. That statement matters because Ellaboudy’s employment naturally raises questions about whether a sensitive federal installation was targeted.

According to the government, it was not.

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The alleged danger was the attempted transfer of expertise, equipment and assistance to terrorists overseas.

Another same-day account summarized the charge and identified the accused as a former DOE employee.

The FBI’s Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case. Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Washington and trial attorneys from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are handling it.

Ellaboudy has been charged, not convicted. The allegations must be proven in court beyond a reasonable doubt, and he is presumed innocent unless and until that happens.

But the charging documents describe a nightmare counterterrorism scenario: a person inside the federal government allegedly using American technical training, an official passport and professional expertise to assist an enemy backed by Iran.

The Houthis did not need to recruit someone from a battlefield, according to the accusation.

They allegedly found help inside the United States government.

 

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