(PresidentialWire.com)- A man who briefly served as the Sergeant-at-Arms for the US Senate is now working as a lobbyist for the Chinese state-owned company Hikvision, according to the National Pulse.
Andrew Willison, who was appointed Sergeant-at-Arms by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2014, is now a lobbyist with The Elevation Association, a firm he founded in March 2022.
According to the National Pulse, the firm is lobbying for the Chinese Communist Party-linked Hikvision, a manufacturer and supplier of video surveillance equipment. The Defense Department has described Hikvision as a Chinese military proxy. It has been accused of providing the technology for China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang province.
During the Trump administration, Hikvision’s products were banned for sale in the United States.
According to the National Pulse, Willison’s firm The Elevation Association lobbied Congress on behalf of Hikvision regarding legislation, including the National Defense Authorization Act’s provision banning certain surveillance equipment. Hikvision paid the Elevation Association $110,000.
Before becoming Sergeant-at-Arms, Willison served as Harry Reid’s Chief of Staff.
Willison spent less than a year as Sergeant-at-Arms. He was appointed in May 2014 and left on January 5, 2015, when the Republicans took back the Senate.
After leaving the Senate, Willison became a lobbyist with the firm Oldaker & Willison.
