By Melanie Patterson
The Independent Penn

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Libertarian Party, the third-largest political party in the nation and long praised for its devotion to transparency and ethics, is now confronting an internal scandal that has exposed hidden finances, factional maneuvering, and broken promises at the highest level. A sharply critical 94-page report by the Libertarian National Committee’s Special Investigatory Committee (SIC), supported by whistleblower documentation from journalist Jake Porter, finds that former chair Angela McArdle orchestrated a covert financial scheme that funneled large sums of donor money to entities linked to her domestic partner, Austin Padgett. In a last-minute resolution, the LNC declared her “unfit to serve” and formally banned her from holding any future roles within the party.

Multiple attempts to reach Angela McArdle for comment were unsuccessful.

Freedom Calls LLC: $49,600 Disappears Into Thin Air

In what the Libertarian Party’s Special Investigatory Committee has labeled one of the most egregious financial violations in recent party history, investigators found that Freedom Calls LLC, a Delaware-registered company formed by Angela McArdle’s domestic partner Austin Padgett, received $49,600 in party funds between February 2024 and January 2025. The payments were designated for “fundraising services,” but internal audits show the firm raised less than $2,500 in verifiable revenue for the party—a return rate of roughly 5 cents per dollar spent.

The committee’s findings indicate that the contract was not vetted or approved by the LNC’s full board. Instead, it was executed informally and routed through McArdle’s direct control.

One of the most disturbing revelations: the identity of the firm’s ownership was intentionally obscured from official party records. The contact listed on the invoices was not Padgett, but a fictitious person identified only as “Peter.” No party member, investigator, or financial officer ever interacted with anyone by that name, leading the committee to conclude that the alias was used to deliberately mask Padgett’s role.

Moreover, the W‑9 tax form submitted by Freedom Calls to the party bore a signature that investigators determined did not match Padgett’s actual signature on other legal documents. The inconsistency raised additional questions about document authenticity and potential fraud.

Despite the clear conflict of interest—Padgett being both the incorporator and sole proprietor of the company—McArdle personally approved four of the fourteen invoices submitted by Freedom Calls. The remaining ten were signed by the LNC’s Executive Director, who later told investigators he had no knowledge of Padgett’s ownership or the relationship to McArdle. At no point were the payments submitted for full board review.

On August 7, 2024, McArdle took a further step to bury the conflict. She instructed the LNC Secretary to remove Padgett’s name from the official conflict-of-interest disclosure list, even though he remained the sole owner and operator of the firm. The committee determined that this instruction directly violated the LNC’s own conflict-of-interest policy, which had been tightened months earlier due to prior concerns about her hiring decisions.

“This was not simply mismanagement — it was a deliberate, concealed conflict of interest,” said one report reviewer familiar with the investigation. “There was a pattern of deception and obstruction, not just a lapse in judgment.”

Investigators found no trace of a formal contract between Freedom Calls LLC and the LNC. No Request for Proposal (RFP), no board vote, and no consultation with party counsel was documented—despite the financial outlay exceeding what some state affiliates spend on entire annual budgets.

The final payment to Freedom Calls was processed on January 23, 2025—just 48 hours before McArdle’s abrupt resignation, which she initially attributed to taking a “pending position in the second Trump administration.” No such position ever materialized, and no formal offer was ever confirmed by the Trump transition team.

The committee found that McArdle refused to submit to interviews, did not provide requested documentation, and did not respond to any inquiries related to the invoices, payment authorizations, or Freedom Calls operations.

Swing Vote Strategist LLC: A Phantom Firm Behind the Kennedy Tie-In

While Freedom Calls LLC was siphoning party funds under the guise of grassroots fundraising, a second shadow vendor was operating behind the scenes—this time tied directly to a controversial joint fundraising venture with the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign.

The entity, Swing Vote Strategist LLC (SVS), was incorporated by McArdle’s domestic partner, Austin Padgett, in September 2024, just weeks after the Libertarian National Committee signed onto the Kennedy Victory Fund (KVF)—a Joint Fundraising Agreement (JFA) between RFK Jr.’s presidential campaign, the LNC, and several state affiliates and PACs.

What followed was, in the words of one LNC member, “a textbook example of how to blur the lines between private enrichment and public trust.”

Over the course of the next few months, Swing Vote Strategist LLC received at least $12,000 from the KVF for what was listed in Federal Election Commission filings as “fundraising consulting.” But internal communications and forensic review of LNC emails revealed that:

• Invoices from SVS were sent directly from Angela McArdle’s official LNC email account, not from Padgett or any firm representative.

• Inquiries by LNC members—particularly board member Kathy Yeniscavich—about the ownership of SVS were met with evasions. When asked point-blank whether SVS was Padgett’s company, McArdle responded: “Probably an address error. I’ll look into it tomorrow. I need a day off.”

• SVS used the same mailing address McArdle previously used for LNC business, further fueling suspicions that the company was being operated by McArdle under Padgett’s name.

Despite her official resignation on January 25, 2025, the SIC found that McArdle continued engaging with Kennedy’s campaign and multiple LP affiliates through the spring of 2025. In at least six documented email exchanges—with TK staff, affiliated PACs, and a campaign attorney—McArdle signed her emails as “LNC Chair,” despite no longer holding that title.

The committee noted that this impersonation of office, compounded by her concealment of SVS’s ties, represented “a sustained misrepresentation of role and authority” and may expose the party to legal liability if donors or vendors believed they were dealing with a sitting party official.

In a sharp move to distance the current leadership from the McArdle-era entanglements, newly elected LNC Chair Steven Nekhaila—voted in on February 2, 2025—sent a formal termination letter to Freedom Calls LLC on February 11. The letter was sent via both email and registered mail. Within 48 hours, the email bounced back as undeliverable, casting doubt on whether the firm ever had legitimate operations at all.

The Kennedy Victory Fund officially ceased operations on June 1, 2025, but the party is still reckoning with the reputational and financial damage.

Rescue the West: Political Crossover and a Hidden Platform

Beyond the shadow vendors and internal manipulation, perhaps the most politically explosive revelation in the Special Investigatory Committee’s report is Angela McArdle’s founding and promotion of a third entity: Rescue the West.

Rescue the West was registered as a nonprofit with the stated goal of “preserving American values,” but functioned in practice as a political advocacy arm aligned with the presidential campaigns of both Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump—despite the Libertarian Party having already nominated Chase Oliver as its 2024 standard bearer.

According to the SIC, McArdle raised over $1.23 million through Rescue the West, including:

• $458,811 from individual donors via GiveSendGo

• $776,000 from outside PACs, including AV24, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Alliance, and other pro-Kennedy committees

None of this activity was disclosed to the LNC at the time.

“McArdle violated Policy Manual Section 1.07(2) by failing to timely disclose the Rescue the Republic rally and her involvement with Rescue the West as potential conflicts of interest,” the report states.

The Rescue the Republic rally, an event promoted through LNC-aligned channels in fall 2024, was sponsored by Rescue the West. McArdle not only concealed the funding source, but reportedly used internal Libertarian Party contact lists to promote attendance — essentially redirecting Libertarian volunteers and infrastructure to benefit outside presidential campaigns.

Further, the SIC revealed that McArdle did not obtain any contract addendum or LNC counsel review when hiring outside contractors linked to the rally, nor did she disclose that one contractor was her next-door neighbor. These actions were deemed violations of both party policy and basic nonprofit governance principles.

The findings confirmed the deepest fears of many long-time Libertarian activists: that the Chair of their national party had, for much of 2024, been using her position and internal tools to elevate external candidates over the Libertarian nominee.

“It’s beyond a conflict of interest — it’s sabotage,” said one former LNC executive member who reviewed the report. “The Chair of the party worked to amplify candidates running against our own.”

Mises Caucus: From Internal Operation to Outsized Influence

Despite the scandal, McArdle was elected Chair of the Mises Caucus PAC in June—a move that has drawn widespread criticism.

“Electing someone under investigation to lead a faction is not a sign of strength—it’s a sign of fracture,” said Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, in a recent statement after the report’s publication. “Our party must choose integrity over noise.”

Oliver, a vocal opponent of factionalism, criticized McArdle’s claim that she resigned to take a position in a Trump administration—a position that never existed despite Trump’s second-term election in 2024.

“She told supporters it was for a Trump role that didn’t exist. That speaks volumes about her credibility—and about the message this sends to our volunteers and donors.”

Medical Freedom Caucus Responds: “This Was a Betrayal”

The Libertarian Party Medical Freedom Caucus, known for its grassroots advocacy and growing national influence, issued one of the strongest condemnations in response to the report.

“This wasn’t just a breach of financial ethics—it was a betrayal of trust that has real-world consequences for those of us on the front lines defending liberty,” said Brittany Kosin, the caucus’s founder, a declared candidate for LNC At-Large, and the chairwoman of a regional nonprofit, speaking ahead of the 2026 Libertarian National Convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kosin continued:

“The same donors who funded party operations were unknowingly underwriting shell companies and external campaigns. That’s indefensible. We must create a permanent ethics committee, make conflicts fully transparent, and stop this kind of grift before it starts.”

Kosin’s candidacy reflects a growing reform wave within the party, with state and national leaders coalescing around calls for accountability, ethical oversight, and greater transparency.

Governance Reforms or Identity Crisis

The release of the Special Investigatory Committee’s report has forced the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) into a moment of reckoning—one that could define the party’s direction for the next decade. Beyond documenting financial impropriety and ethical lapses, the report offers a roadmap for reform that aims to prevent such misconduct from ever occurring again. Whether the LNC will adopt these measures in full remains uncertain, but the urgency is clear.

At the top of the committee’s recommendations is a formal cease-and-desist letter to Angela McArdle. Despite resigning in January 2025, McArdle continued to correspond with outside organizations, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign, while falsely signing communications as “Chair of the Libertarian National Committee.” The SIC determined this misrepresentation not only confused third parties but also exposed the LNC to legal and reputational risks. The committee recommends the LNC formally instruct her to immediately stop using party titles or misrepresenting her current affiliation.

Secondly, the SIC calls for a permanent vendor ban on both McArdle and her domestic partner, Austin Padgett, as well as any business entity they control or may form in the future. This includes the already-implicated Freedom Calls LLC and Swing Vote Strategist LLC. The recommendation reflects the committee’s finding that both entities operated with little-to-no transparency, failed to deliver measurable value to the party, and were used to mask private gain behind official duties.

The committee further advocates for sweeping bylaw amendments to address a core structural flaw: the excessive concentration of authority in the hands of a single officer. Under McArdle’s tenure, the report notes, she was able to execute contracts, approve invoices, and remove conflict disclosures without board oversight. The SIC recommends explicit bylaw reforms to limit unilateral control over financial contracts and vendor relationships, requiring either full board votes or, at minimum, audit committee review for transactions exceeding a certain threshold.

Additionally, the report urges the LNC to commission an independent, full-scope financial audit of all national party operations from 2023 through 2025. This would not only assess the total fiscal impact of the misconduct but also identify gaps in current oversight procedures. Several LNC members have signaled support for such an audit, though the cost and scope are still under discussion.

While the committee determined that the LNC may have a technically viable legal case for restitution under D.C. nonprofit governance law—particularly related to Freedom Calls LLC—it concluded that pursuing litigation through the party’s general fund would likely result in a net financial loss. Legal fees, discovery costs, and potential collection challenges could exceed the $49,600 in disputed payments. However, the committee noted that if outside donors or a pro bono attorney stepped forward, the case could be revived.

“If members or donors are determined to see justice done, this doesn’t have to be the end of the road,” the report states.

The broader implication of these recommendations is clear: the party must choose between superficial damage control and meaningful institutional change. Without structural reforms and cultural realignment, the conditions that enabled this scandal remain firmly in place.

“This is not just about punishing one person,” said a senior member of the audit committee. “This is about deciding whether the Libertarian Party will be governed by rules, or by personalities.”

The choice now rests with the delegates, officers, and grassroots members who will converge in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the 2026 National Convention—a gathering already shaping up to be a defining moment in the party’s history.