VICE News: Kevin McCarthy Is Donating the Cash He Took From Rudy Giuliani’s Indicted Pals

WASHINGTON — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that he’d return campaign donations from a pair of Ukrainian-Americans working with Rudy Giuliani to boost President Trump after the two men were arrested for allegedly violating campaign finance laws.

McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ main campaign organization, received substantial donations from Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, a pair of businessmen who have been working with Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, in his push to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.

The men were arrested Wednesday and charged with allegedly funneling illegal campaign contributions to a Trump-friendly super PAC as well as other candidates. …

Good-government groups had begun raising the alarm about the donations, saying that while they might not be illegal, they reflect poorly on the lawmakers.

“It’s extremely troubling,” said Beth Rotman of Common Cause, a group that filed complaints Federal Election Commission and Department of Justice complaints about the Parnas and Fruman donations. “The money should absolutely be returned. It shows a really problematic appearance of a conflict [of interest].”