John Johnson, most recently the special agent in charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security's Miami field office, has retired from the agency, he announced last week on LinkedIn. Johnson led the Miami field office from May 2023 and had been with BIS since 2007.

John Kabealo, founder of Kabealo Law, and Evan Sills, former counsel at Kabealo Law, have joined Kirkland & Ellis as partners in the international trade and national security practice group, the firm announced. Kabealo Law, a boutique national security law firm, specialized in the national security regulatory process, dealing with issues related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, Team Telecom and cybersecurity, Kirkland said.

President Donald Trump is nominating his national security adviser, Milke Waltz, to instead be the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., he announced on social media. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security adviser while continuing to lead the State Department, Trump said. The announcement comes weeks after it was revealed Waltz added a journalist to a discussion about military plans among senior administration officials on the messaging app Signal.

John Varesi, a senior engineer and licensing officer with the Bureau of Industry and Security, is retiring from the agency this week, he said during an April 29 Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Varesi had been with BIS since 2006.

Karen Wrege is leaving her position this fall as chief information officer at the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, she announced on LinkedIn. Wrege has been with the agency since 2014. She said she plans to work both in cybersecurity compliance and on fundraising efforts for a Washington-based organization that assists nonprofits.

Thea Kendler, former assistant secretary for export administration at the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, and Aiysha Hussain, Kendler's senior policy adviser, have joined Mayer Brown as partners in the international trade, national security and white-collar defense practices, the firm announced. Kendler served at BIS for three years, joining the agency from DOJ, where she worked as a trial attorney in the national security division. Hussain worked at Commerce since 2020, serving as senior counsel then senior policy adviser for export administration.

Craig Allen, senior counselor at the Cohen Group, has joined the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis as a non-resident senior fellow, the center announced April 16. Allen, a former Commerce Department official, recently retired as president of the U.S.-China Business Council (see 2409100027). In December, Allen urged the U.S. and China to pause their escalating trade restrictions against one another and discuss how to manage national security risks around technology (see 2412120052).

Mayank Bishnoi is stepping down as chief of compliance and regulatory affairs at the International Trade Administration to become counsel at Texas Instruments, he announced on LinkedIn April 17.

Collmann Griffin, a senior adviser at the Bureau of Industry and Security, has left the agency and joined Washington law firm Miller & Chevalier as counsel, he posted on LinkedIn April 17.

James Martinelli, a Treasury Department official, has been named the associate director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's policy division, he announced on LinkedIn. Martinelli has worked at Treasury since 2015 in roles at both FinCEN and the Office of Foreign Assets Control.