Emily Benson, a former Commerce Department senior adviser for trade and technology policy issues, has joined Minerva Technology Policy Advisors as its head of strategy, she announced on LinkedIn. Benson said the firm is “building a customizable set of geopolitical risk tools to advise” companies in the U.S. and EU. She left Commerce earlier this year.

Marissa Cloutier, a former government official who worked on foreign military sales and State Department export controls, has joined K&L Gates as a national security policy adviser, the firm announced. Cloutier was most recently the chief of the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls’ Compliance and Civil Enforcement Division. She left the government earlier this year while on a special assignment as the Air Force’s foreign military sales country director for Latin America.

Former Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who worked on key sanctions and defense trade issues during the Biden administration, has joined Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service as a distinguished fellow in diplomacy, the school announced this week. Campbell helped oversee U.S. efforts to reduce defense trade restrictions with Australia and the U.K. under the AUKUS partnership (see 2404030050 and 2409180025) and testified before Congress about the administration's efforts to counter China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base (see 2407300033).

David Newman, the DOJ’s second-highest-ranking national security official under the Biden administration, has joined Morrison Foerster to advise on sanctions issues, export control enforcement, reviews before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., and more. Newman previously served as the principal deputy assistant attorney general for DOJ’s National Security Division, where he oversaw federal prosecutors working on cases related to sanctions breaches, export control evasion and other national security issues.

Stacy Hernandez, a former international trade specialist at the Commerce Department, was “let go” from her position March 3 amid the Trump administration's sweeping cuts of employees who are still on probationary status. March 4 would have been her first day off probation, she said on LinkedIn. She joined ITA last year after working in the Bureau of Industry and Security's Office of Technology Evaluation.

Gerry Horner, a former Bureau of Industry and Security official who had been serving as chief of the Census Trade Regulations Branch since 2018, retired from the federal government last week, he announced on LinkedIn. At Census, Horner oversaw work to write regulations governing electronic export filings in the Automated Export System, including by working with BIS on their long-awaited routed export rule (see 2412100049 and 2403270056).

Kristine Carrillo, an international trade specialist with the Commerce Department, was told her position was “terminated” this week as part of the Trump administration's sweeping cuts of employees who are still on probationary status, she announced on LinkedIn. Carrillo joined the International Trade Administration in December 2023 and worked to "advance opportunities for U.S. companies" through meetings with foreign governments visiting the U.S. on trade missions.

Matthew Axelrod, the Bureau of Industry and Security's former export enforcement chief, has joined Gibson Dunn to help lead the firm's new sanctions and export enforcement practice group. Axelrod and former Treasury Department senior adviser Adam Smith will co-chair the new group, which they said will aim to help clients navigate rising export control and sanctions risks.

Raj Parekh, a DOJ lawyer who was named the Bureau of Industry and Security’s first chief of corporate enforcement in September (see 2409120007), is leaving BIS next week to join the law firm Sparacino, he announced on LinkedIn. Parekh said his departure from government is “entirely unrelated to current events,” adding that his one-year detail as the BIS corporate enforcement chief “would have continued if it were not for this unique opportunity in the private sector.”

Kevin Kurland, the Bureau of Industry and Security's most senior career export enforcement official, has been tapped to replace longtime BIS official Matt Borman in overseeing the agency’s export administration efforts, three people familiar with the matter said. BIS updated its website Feb. 27 to reflect the change.