Michael Turner Evanoff (born 1961) is an American security expert and government official who served as the

Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security The assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security is the head of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security reports to the Under Secretary of State ...

. Prior to assuming that role, he served as Vice President for Asset Protection & Security for

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

from 2014 to 2017. Evanoff previously served as Chief Security Officer at

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

and as Global Director of Security at Och-Ziff Capital Management. From 1985 to 2011, he served as a special agent in the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, where he held senior positions with the

Overseas Security Advisory Council The Bureau of Diplomatic Security, commonly known as Diplomatic Security (DS), is the security branch of the United States Department of State. It conducts international investigations, threat analysis, cyber security, counterterrorism, and pr ...

, NATO Office of Security, Secretary of State protection detail, and eight U.S. missions overseas. In his capacity at the State Department, he provided personal protection services to former

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

. In June 2018, Evanoff was tasked with assessing the situation arising from a mysterious illness affecting American diplomats and their families in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China, to ensure this was given the due priority that Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...

had demanded. In February 2019, Evanoff announced a bounty of up to $1 million for information leading to the capture of

Hamza bin Laden Hamza bin Laden (9 May 19892017/2019) was a Saudi-born key member of al-Qaeda. He was a son of Osama bin Laden. On 14 September 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he was killed in a U.S. counterterrorism operation on the Durand Li ...

, the son of Osama bin Laden, who was seen as "an emerging

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

leader" who "had threatened attacks against the United States and allies”. He described the announcement as a new tool of the State Departments fight against Al-Qaeda. Evanoff resigned as Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security in July 2020. He was succeeded by Acting Assistant Secretary Bureau of Diplomatic Security Todd J. Brown.

References

External links

Biography at NATO

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evanoff, Michael 1961 births Living people Eastern Kentucky University alumni First Trump administration personnel United States assistant secretaries of state