Preventing Adversary Influence, Disinformation, and Obscured Foreign Financing Act of 2022 or the PAID OFF Act of 2022
This bill requires certain persons to register as agents of a foreign principal if the foreign principal in question is a foreign adversary.
For the purposes of this bill, a foreign adversary is a foreign government or person (individual or entity) that has engaged in a long-term pattern of conduct significantly adverse to U.S. national security or the security and safety of U.S. persons.
Currently, the Foreign Agents Registration Act exempts certain agents from the act's registration requirements, including agents (1) engaged only in private and nonpolitical activities to advance a foreign principal's bona fide trade or commerce interests, or (2) engaged in certain lobbying activities and where the agent has registered as a lobbyist. Under this bill, these exemptions shall not apply if the foreign principal is a foreign adversary.