Washington State Energy Department Worker Arrested for Aiding Designated Terror Group
Source: X | @sentdefender
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A Department of Energy employee based in Richland, Washington was arrested October 1, 2026 on federal charges of attempting to provide material support to the Houthis, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, is accused of traveling to Yemen, acquiring materials to build explosive devices and drones, and attempting to improve the group's communications infrastructure.
ANALYSIS
Federal agents arrested Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, a Department of Energy (DOE) employee residing in Richland, Washington on October 1, 2026. He is the first publicly charged federal government employee accused of attempting to provide material support to the Houthis since the group's redesignation as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the State Department. Richland sits in the Tri-Cities area of eastern Washington, home to the Hanford Site, the largest nuclear cleanup project in the country. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and DOE's Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation jointly.
According to the criminal complaint, Ellaboudy traveled to Yemen and used specialized expertise to help the Houthis improve their communications capabilities. Communications infrastructure is what allows the group to coordinate its drone and missile strike operations. He also acquired materials inside the United States for building homemade explosives and drones capable of carrying explosive payloads. Both categories of alleged conduct fall under the federal material support statute, which bars any US person from providing assistance of any kind to a designated FTO.
Ellaboudy was scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate judge in Richland on October 2, 2026. Prosecutors have not publicly identified his specific role within DOE or disclosed whether his government access, technical expertise, or security clearance contributed to what he allegedly provided. DOE manages the US nuclear weapons stockpile, oversees radioactive waste cleanup, and conducts nuclear research. Its employees routinely hold access to sensitive technical and national security information.
The Houthis, formally Ansar Allah, have conducted hundreds of maritime attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since late 2023, forcing global shipping reroutes and drawing US and coalition military responses. The Trump administration designated the group as both a specially designated global terrorist and FTO. An American federal employee traveling to Yemen to assist that group and acquiring domestic explosive components while under that designation represents a category of insider threat that federal security programs have not previously had to treat as a Houthi-specific risk.
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