Paul S. Ryan is Common Cause V.P. for Policy & Litigation. In a statement Thursday, Ryan welcomed the indictments of two “Ukrainegate” figures connected to Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, saying it is an encouraging sign. The two men, Lev Parnas, and Igor Fruman, were indicted Thursday on charges of campaign finance fraud.

Ryan said “the arrest and indictment of Soviet-born agents of Rudy Giuliani for illegally funneling foreign money into Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential run is an encouraging sign that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York will enforce the laws even if Main Justice is run by Trump-apologist William Barr.”

Ryan decries what he terms a troubling picture of a free flow of foreign money into US elections which the indictments portrays. Ryan states further that

[the] indictments though, likely represent only the tip of the iceberg in terms of foreign meddling in general but also by Parnas and Fruman. Both men were also heavily involved in the efforts by the White House and President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate unsubstantiated allegations against Trump’s political rival Joe Biden. Common Cause has filed a Justice Department complaint alleging that those efforts violated the prohibition on soliciting contributions from foreign nationals in US elections. We plan to forward that complaint to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in light of Attorney General William Barr’s conduct to date shielding President Trump and others many from any and all investigations.

Read the statement here.