Energy Dept. Employee Arrested for Allegedly Trying to Aid the Houthis
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, a Department of Energy employee, was arrested by the FBI in Richland, Washington, and charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Houthis, a designated foreign terrorist organization backed by Iran.
According to the DOJ, Ellaboudy worked at the Energy Department's Hanford field office and is accused of acquiring materials for homemade explosives and drones for the Houthis and of trying to improve the group's communications capabilities. The DOJ also alleges he used an official passport from his time with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to travel through Oman into Yemen, intending to visit the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa. When he returned to the U.S. in September 2025, he told Customs and Border Protection the trip was official government business; his supervisor later told federal authorities he had no authorized travel to the region.
A federal affidavit says that between November 2024 and February 2025, Ellaboudy purchased nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid, potassium nitrate, aluminum powder, sulfur powder, firework igniter parts and drone components. "These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg. The Energy Department said the case involved no attempt to harm the Hanford site or its workforce. Ellaboudy is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday in Richland.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿特区的美国能源部总部福雷斯特尔大楼。摄影：Tim Evanson，CC BY-SA 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
