The Libertarian Party’s Chaotic Week
So far as Libertarian Party history is concerned, it was truly a decade of a week.
In our effort to bring readers up to speed, The Torch has condensed some of the week’s top lines from LPAlliance’s perspective, including news and events from our own front.
On Sunday, January 19, the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) passed a resolution, backed by a 93 percent majority (notwithstanding one Nay and six Abstentions), calling for Libertarian National Committee (LNC) Chair Angela McArdle to take “immediate corrective action” in regards to a series of actions, enumerated over the course of two pages, “contrary to the principles and growth of the Libertarian Party”. Failing that, the Resolution stated, “the LPNY calls for [McArdle’s] resignation or removal as Chair.”
The affiliate, which has been among the more outspoken dissenters against McArdle and her faction’s near-unilateral leadership of the LNC, hoped to induce other state parties to follow suit and issue similar calls for remedy or resignation. While McArdle was informed of the meeting and made aware of her ability to make a statement in her defense prior to the resolution’s approval, she was not present for the vote.
When notified of the New York resolution via email, McArdle shot back:
No one gives a fuck. I didn’t attend your stupid meeting because I’m trying to get another libertarian political prisoner freed this evening. Too bad you can’t do anything except pass retarded resolutions.
Angela McArdle is 41 years old.
Among the other resolutions LPNY passed that evening included a decision, carried unanimously, to “actively promote direct citizen action aligned with [libertarian] principles” via “a Strategic Planning Committee tasked with developing actionable initiatives” for citizen mobilization. The Committee will present its first plan to the New York state committee no later than April 30 of this year.
Monday, January 20, marked Donald J. Trump’s second inauguration into the presidential office. Although President Trump, who signed an estimated 200 executive orders and ordered 1,500 commutations or pardons on his first day in office, had previously promised the Libertarian Party that Ross Ulbricht—serving two life sentences for founding the Silk Road website—would be among the prisoners released on “day one” of his presidency, the first thirty-six hours following his inauguration passed without the Oval Office making any mention of Ulbricht.
Included in the executive orders President Trump did issue on day one were an edict to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, an (unconstitutional) end to birthright citizenship, and a mandate to begin mass deportations, effective immediately.
LPAlliance also hosted its inaugural livestream that evening, featuring Liberty Sentries journalist John Ponty, LPNY members Rose Leatherman and Pietro Salvatore Geraci, and politicians Ted Brown and Chase Oliver, all of whom joined Phil Rein and Amanda Griffiths to discuss the future of libertarianism and the Libertarian Party. Presently LPAlliance intends to broadcast one episode every two weeks on topics germane to libertarianism, the Party, and politics beyond the LP.
While on air, Chase Oliver made note of a handful of social media posts signaling Ulbricht’s imminent release. As of Tuesday morning, however, no commutation or pardon had been issued.
Tuesday morning, January 21, also saw the release of documents, unearthed by Jake Porter, alleging that the Libertarian Party had unwittingly been paying $4,000 per month to Chair McArdle’s domestic partner, Austin Padgett, following the termination of Padgett’s direct contract with the Party. The payments, Porter reported, had been made via an apparent front organization known as Freedom Calls LLC; and all absent the Party’s knowledge that they would be routed to the McArdle household. All told, the amount of money allegedly pocketed by Padgett directly eclipses at least $90,000.
These amounts are significant for an organization whose budget ranges between one and two million dollars annually, especially since they do not include other funds allegedly directed to the McArdle household via Party expenditures. If true, these allegations are particularly alarming since the Party itself is financially underwater, having plummeted from a profit surplus to near bankruptcy under McArdle’s tenure, which also saw the Party accumulate $90,630 in credit card debt.
With Ulbricht still behind bars, LPAlliance and aligned organizations sent out a call for advocacy on behalf of his release. That evening, following significant media attention and an urgent letter from Senator Ron Paul, President Trump indeed pardoned Ulbricht and freed the Silk Road founder after eleven years of incarceration.
On Wednesday, January 22, two items ignited a firestorm throughout the Party. First came Chair McArdle’s assertion that, regarding Ulbricht’s release, “I was right. My critics were wrong. This is my victory lap.” The mixed reactions from members of the Alliance were representative of the broader Libertarian community: Many within the coalition believed it appropriate to concede some greater credit to McArdle for the pardon, writing that the role she had played in inviting President Trump to speak at the 2024 Convention and negotiating for concessions had helped secure Ulbricht’s release. Others argued that the Chair’s posture of crediting solely herself and Trump was gauche, citing efforts made by Lyn Ulbricht, Thomas Massie, Rand Paul, and the “Free Ross” movement. The pardon had been arranged (to the extent that anything involving Donald Trump could be arranged) in advance of the Convention, between then-candidate Trump and Thomas Massie, they stated; meaning that there was no successful “deal” to speak of between the Party and the President; and that it was important to set the record straight immediately since, based on their analysis of relevant events, the Chair’s narrative was a false one that threatened to jeopardize popular faith in direct action. Still others opted out of the discussion entirely, celebrating Ulbricht’s unqualified release but refusing to involve themselves in debates about the narrative surrounding it.
Late in the day on Wednesday, however, a new story began to spread that dampened all Ulbricht-related discussions’ volleys for attention: Following Porter’s revelations about the Freedom Calls payments, LNC Treasurer Bill Redpath had written to McArdle, linking to Porter’s story and asking: “Is there anything in this story that is not correct?” Subsequently LNC Region 4 representative and Mises Caucus hard-liner Meredith Hays urged a meeting, and the Libertarian National Committee scrambled to assemble an eleventh-hour vote to terminate its financial agreement with Freedom Calls, effective immediately. A second motion was then raised to create an investigative committee regarding McArdle’s financial activities.
After the first vote passed, chaos set in. Previous fractures among various Mises Caucus affiliates rapidly disintegrated into full-on breaks, with the Arizona Libertarian Party, another Mises stronghold, calling for McArdle’s suspension pending an investigation and urging the Chair to “do the right thing and resign”. According to Arizona Libertarian Party member Rebekah Massie, however, this appeal, while “the correct call,” was not made in consultation with Arizona Party membership or other leadership: Apparently, it was the work of a rogue actor. “Good leaders do not make decisions in a vacuum, as it sows contempt, and often deceit”, she added.
For its part, the Arizona Libertarian Party received very little praise and quite a bit of negative attention on the post itself, but this is perhaps not reflective of overall Party sentiment, as the Arizona Libertarian Party has long since blocked most critics of McArdle and the current LNC from engaging with their social media account.
Other Mises Caucus members and LNC associates soon began distancing themselves from one another, with Hays herself, a long-time and vocal supporter of Mises leadership and unifactionalism, reporting that she had been ousted from Mises circles after calling the vote to terminate Freedom Calls’ contract.
By the morning of Thursday, January 23, multiple well-known Mises loyalists were reporting having been blocked by or removed from the Caucus. Regional alternate Ben Weir had also resigned his post, citing “recent events” that had led him “to reflect deeply on the trajectory of this body under the unilateral direction of the current Chair”, alongside obligations related to his family and nonprofit Punks for Liberty.
On Friday, January 24, LPAlliance received credible but unconfirmed reports that fraud/embezzlement allegations would be forwarded to DC authorities for investigation, absent McArdle’s resignation by COB Friday. As of that time, McArdle’s resignation had not been tendered.
Around 1AM on Saturday, January 25, McArdle offered her resignation, endorsing Michael Heise and Josiah Baker as possible successors. The LNC has yet to vote to approve the resignation and fill three vacant seats, with some estimates that it could be a month or more before the Libertarian Party appoints a new Chair and Vice Chair. Upon prompting, Former Libertarian Congressman Justin Amash stated on Saturday that he was “open to the conversation” about serving on the LNC, “but [would] have to be convinced,” noting: “Whoever is chair needs to be a bridge between all the factions.”
It is speculated that McArdle may now be preparing to serve as a Trump bureaucrat, vindicating those in the Alliance who have long suggested that McArdle and many in the Mises Caucus would do better to join the Republican Party and serve as a libertarian-oriented conservative caucus within the GOP.
Editor’s Note: Shortly after this story’s publication and McArdle’s resignation, Ben Weir reported that he had rescinded his own resignation. The LNC’s motion to form an investigative committee regarding McArdle’s finances has also passed.
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