Alisa Vasquez | POLITICO Press

Announcement from David Kihara, Grace Maalouf, Jonathan Miller, Bob King and Clea Benson:

Dear all –

We’re excited to welcome three talented reporters to our newsroom and announce some key internal moves as we continue investing in fast, high-impact coverage. Ashley Ahn and Jalen Beckford will strengthen our Breaking News team, helping us deliver timely reporting on the stories that matter most as they unfold. Sam Larreal will join our transportation team as the author of Morning Transportation. And Zach Montellaro and Sam Ogozalek are taking on new responsibilities.

Ashley comes to POLITICO from The New York Times, where she was a fellow with the Live team covering fast-moving stories such as Trump’s reversal on releasing the Epstein files and the attack on Ilhan Omar at a town hall in Minneapolis. Ashley has also landed some impressive scoops, including the resignation of a top Kennedy Center official only weeks after his appointment. Her previous work included stints at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Los Angeles Times and Foreign Policy.

Jalen joins us from Punchbowl News, where he worked as a digital producer on its flagship newsletter and reported on real-time developments on the Hill. A jack-of-all-trades, Jalen also curated Punchbowl’s homepage, produced and edited its weekly podcast and handled its social media. Before that, Jalen worked at CNN as an assignment editor reporting and writing breaking news and contributing to CNN’s politics blog.

Jalen and Ashley start in mid-August and will report to Zach Montellaro.

And we’re pleased to announce that Zach Montellaro has been promoted to Senior Breaking News Editor. Over the past year and a half as he has helmed our Breaking team, Zach has been absolutely vital in pushing immediate, fast-moving coverage that touches every corner of our newsroom — from Trump’s war in Iran, the all-important battle for control of the Senate and the House, the DOJ and Epstein, and just about every policy vertical under our roof.

We’re also delighted that Sam Larreal will be joining the transportation team after a standout run covering technology and politics at NOTUS. There, he documented how Silicon Valley giants disrupted Washington; how artificial intelligence, data centers and social media upended state-level and federal politics; and how these emerging technologies changed the work of politicians and political operatives. He also covered influence, delivering impressive scoops on how Eric Swallwell was peddling his AI-powered fundraising startup to colleagues.

Before moving to D.C., Sam covered Florida politics for Teen Vogue, where he reported on the 2024 general election. He is originally from Venezuela, and moved to Miami before attending Florida International University. He starts Aug. 11 and will report to Jonathan Miller.

Sam’s hire will double the number of Sams on the Transpo team. Sam Ogozalek, who deftly led the morning newsletter while distinguishing himself with a truckload of scoops, will move to a beat covering ground transportation, including the sputtering highway bill. In his time so far at POLITICO, Sam O. broke exclusive details on Sean Duffy’s ill-fated road trip as well as FAA administrator Bryan Bedford’s curiously slow divestiture of airline stock. He’s been all over AI efforts at the FAA and has delivered a series of deeply reported stories on stalled aviation safety legislation

Please join us in welcoming Ashley, Jalen and Sam L., and congratulating Sam O. and Zach.