I haven't had an opportunity to read that letter, but I can give a few reactions.
One is that the foreign influence transparency and accountability act doesn't prohibit any activities. It just requires transparency about certain activities. Having said that, any agreement or any situation must be looked at through the lens of what is required to be registered. That is an arrangement with a foreign principal to do one of the three activities enumerated in the legislation, and it has to be about a government or political process. It's only when those three are met that the registration obligation is triggered.
Part of the commissioner's mandate will be to inform what is captured by that. You can imagine a scenario where a university partners with a foreign university that may be publicly funded to carry out research about a specific topic, but if it's not about a government or political process, then one of the elements isn't met and it doesn't trigger a registration obligation.
I think it's important to always look at this through the lens of the three requirements. We're not looking to chill expression or anything. It's just about being transparent about the very specific things that are enumerated in the legislation.