FBI arrests Energy Department employee Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy for allegedly supporting Houthis

The FBI arrested U.S. Department of Energy electrical engineer Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, on October 1, 2026, at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington. Ellaboudy is charged with attempting to provide material support to the Iran-backed Houthis. Prosecutors allege he purchased drone parts and explosive precursor chemicals, traveled to Yemen using an official passport, and provided technical schematics and communications assistance to an undercover FBI source posing as a Houthi representative.

Arrest of Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy

• ▪Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy was arrested at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state, where the Department of Energy confirmed his activities did not threaten the site's safety or security.
• ▪The FBI arrested Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, a 51-year-old U.S. Department of Energy electrical engineer from Richland, Washington, on October 1, 2026.

Charges and legal proceedings

• ▪If convicted of attempting to provide material support to the Houthis, Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
• ▪Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy was charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to the Houthis, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
• ▪Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy is scheduled to make his initial court appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Richland, Washington, on October 2, 2026.

Support for Houthi communications

• ▪Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy communicated with an undercover FBI confidential source posing as a representative of a Houthi colonel who was seeking communications equipment.
• ▪Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy used his electrical engineering expertise to test solar generators, modify power systems, create circuit schematics, and provide technical guidance to improve Houthi communications.

Travel to Yemen

• ▪Upon returning to the United States, Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy falsely told border officers his trip was authorized government business to inspect defense facilities.
• ▪Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy told FBI informants that he had to be smuggled into and out of Yemen and was ultimately unable to reach the Houthi-controlled capital of Sanaa.
• ▪In September 2025, Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy used an official passport from his former role with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to travel to Oman and cross into Yemen.

Handling of explosive precursor chemicals

• ▪Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy allegedly purchased drone components and precursor chemicals used to construct homemade explosives, including acetone, sodium bisulfate, and nitric acid.
• ▪In December 2024, Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy took sick leave from his Department of Energy job, claiming he had been exposed to highly concentrated nitric acid.

FBI investigation of Ellaboudy

• ▪The investigation into Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy was conducted by the FBI's Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force.
• ▪The FBI began investigating Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy after receiving information that he had purchased precursor chemicals and components commonly used to construct homemade explosives.

Debatable claims

• ▪FBI undercover stings in terrorism investigations constitute entrapment
• ▪Prosecuting technical advice as material support for terrorism infringes on protected speech
• ▪The federal government should continuously monitor employees at sensitive nuclear sites