A Department of Energy employee was arrested in Washington State on charges of attempted material support to the Houthis, FBI Seattle announced in a news release.
The Justice Department announced on October 1, 2026, that the man is Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, an electrical engineer at the Hanford nuclear site in Richland, Washington. The Houthis are a designated foreign terrorist organization. The FBI pitched the case as part of its work "preventing terrorism and protecting the homeland."
The DOJ's allegations are specific. It says Ellaboudy bought precursor chemicals and drone components. It says he traveled to Yemen via Oman in September 2025, using an official passport. It says he gave expert electrical engineering advice to someone he believed could connect him to the Houthis.
The person on the other end was an FBI confidential source posing as a Houthi intermediary.
The FBI's Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case, according to the DOJ.
Here is the part the DOE wants you to hear first. The DOE Hanford Field Office said the matter did not involve a threat to the Hanford site.
The plain version: a federal employee is accused of trying to help a group the U.S. government has labeled terrorists. These are allegations, and Ellaboudy is presumed innocent. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years.