The U.S. Senate has confirmed former Associate Deputy Attorney General Matthew Axelrod as the next assistant secretary of commerce for Export Enforcement at the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), where he will oversee the federal officers who investigate illegal exports.
According to the BIS website, the role protects national security by halting exports that could be involved in the creation of weapons of mass destruction or support for terrorism or hostile nation military support.
“(Office of Export Enforcement) OEE special agents are sworn federal law enforcement officers with authority to make arrests, execute search warrants, serve subpoenas, and detain and seize goods about to be illegally exported,” the BIS website states. “OEE investigations are initiated on information and intelligence obtained from a variety of sources, and are conducted to objectively and thoroughly gather testimony and evidence of alleged or suspected violations of dual-use export control laws. OEE works closely with attorneys with the Department of Justice and the Office of Chief Counsel for Industry and Security to prosecute criminal and administrative cases.”
According to whitehouse.gov, Axelrod was the principal associate deputy attorney general during the Obama Administration. He advised on the department’s criminal and national security matters. He was previously a federal prosecutor for more than 10 years. He was also an assistant United States attorney in Miami and was a senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division through the Justice Department where he oversaw criminal enforcement.
After his time with the Obama Administration, Axelrod became a partner for the law firm Linklaters where he worked on internal investigations and white-collar defense. In 2020, he took a leave of absence from the firm and volunteered full-time as a member of the Department of Justice Agency Review Team, and then joined the department in the Biden Administration where he was senior counselor.
Axelrod was nominated in August by President Joe Biden and confirmed for the position on Dec. 18 by a voice vote.
