Ambassador Nathan Sales

Ambassador Nathan Sales is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office and a member of the Public Policy & Regulation Group.

Ambassador Sales advises clients on their obligations under U.S. and international sanctions laws, as well as mitigation measures to reduce sanctions risk. He assists companies in gaining approval for transactions subject to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and helps clients gain access to foreign markets, leveraging an extensive network of senior government leaders in the United States and around the globe.

Ambassador Sales provides strategic advice on the resolution of complex problems under U.S. immigration law. He has significant experience in developing and implementing crisis response plans to address a variety of risks arising in clients' operations overseas, including personnel recovery. He also advises global companies and trade associations on national security and geopolitical risks, as well as mitigation strategies. He holds a Top Secret level security clearance.

Ambassador Sales previously held a number of senior positions at the U.S. Department of State. He served as the acting Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, leading nine bureaus and offices with 1,300 employees and a combined foreign assistance budget of more than $5 billion annually. Concurrently, he was the Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism, serving as the principal adviser to the secretary of state on international counterterrorism matters and leading the State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau. He also was the Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, leading U.S. relations with the 83-member Coalition and efforts to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS in the Middle East and around the world.

Ambassador Sales' government experience also includes senior roles at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he led policy initiatives on border security and visa programs, and at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he developed and implemented national security initiatives, including the USA PATRIOT Act and U.S. Attorney General's investigative guidelines, as well as worked on federal judicial appointments.

Before joining Holland & Knight, Ambassador Sales was the founder and principal of Fillmore Global Strategies LLC, where he provided clients in the U.S. and abroad with legal and strategic advice on a range of national security and international issues. He previously was a tenured law professor, teaching and writing in the fields of national security law, administrative law and constitutional law. His scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court multiple times.

While in law school, Ambassador Sales was the research editor of the Duke Law Journal. Following graduation, he clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Ambassador Sales is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a frequent commentator on national security and geopolitical issues. He is regularly featured in national and international media, including the BBC, CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, Politico, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.