October 02, 2026
DOE Electrical Engineer Arrested on Federal Charge of Trying to Aid the Houthis
Headline card by The Night Desk
A 51-year-old electrical engineer with the U.S. Department of Energy was arrested October 1 on a federal charge of attempting to provide material support to the Houthis.
Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy allegedly purchased explosive precursors and drone parts, traveled through Oman toward Yemen with the aim of reaching Sanaa, and — critically — advised an FBI informant he believed was a Houthi "Colonel." He was due in court October 2 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The case is a textbook counterterrorism sting: the "Colonel" was undercover from the start, and prosecutors say Ellaboudy's own actions and statements built the case against him.
A DOE engineer trying to reach a designated terrorist organization is the kind of story that raises immediate questions about insider-threat screening at sensitive agencies. Expect those questions to get louder.
Source: Newsmax (citing DOJ press release)
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