Toby Moffett
Toby Moffett

Former Connecticut Congressman Toby Moffett has signed on to represent the US arm of China’s Hikvision, maker of surveillance cameras that monitor detention camps for Uyghur Muslims in the country's Xinjiang province.

The US dropped Hikvision, which has installed tens of thousands of its cameras in the US, from the federal vendor list in 2018 and president Biden signed an executive order this month barring American investment in the company.

Moffett, co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs, joins former Louisiana senator David Vitter on the Hikvision team.

The Washington Post reported that Vitter, a Mercury partner, said in a conference call that his job is to “make sure Hikvision survived in the US.” Biden has called Xinjiang province the site of the world’s “worst abuses of human rights.”

Hikvision USA also relies on WPP’s BCW for support. It took on Hikvision on December 1, 2017.

On May 10, 2021, BCW and Hikvision amended their agreement. The firm advises Hikvision on digital infrastructure to include SEO, training and a broader digital strategy.

The revised contract runs for a year with fees set at $42,729 per month.

Moffett also works for Libya’s Government of National Unity, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and the Turkey-US Business Council.