Does the Libertarian Party have a Maria Butina?

Russian spy, Maria Butina, infiltrated Republican and conservative groups before being apprehended, convicted, and deported back to Putin. Are similar attempts being made on the Libertarians?

Dear Friends,

One of the early supporters of the Mises Caucus and their efforts to take over the Libertarian Party to make it more right-wing and populist was former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne. Byrne gave money and support to Michael Heise and Angela McArdle as they worked together to seize the Libertarian National Committee in 2022. Byrne also was influenced to go after the “Deep State” by a sexual relationship with Maria Butina, the Russian spy.

One of the first things that Angela McArdle focused on as Chair of the LNC was organizing a rally in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She filed nonprofit paperwork using the address of the Libertarian National Committee at 1444 Duke Street in Alexandria, co-founding a group with Nick Brana, better known for the Movement for a People’s Party. They invited Scott Ritter and Tara Reade, both of whom have since defected to Putin’s protection.

Kremlintarianism

In 2024 McArdle has been working more openly with fringe groups like The Schiller Institute and pushing for Libertarians to support Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., while simultaneously contacting state election officials to keep Libertarian nominees Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat off the ballot.

If foreign adversaries wanted to disrupt American politics, the Libertarian Party represents the third-largest electoral organization in the country and the one most able to pull from across the political spectrum. By infiltrating and dissipating the resources of the organization and using the information gathered to change the outcome of the upcoming elections would be an excellent way of doing it.

Ms. McArdle recently sent a FOIA request to the CIA, asking for any information in their files about the Libertarian Party. She received a Glomar response, likely because the CIA investigates foreign activities and the Libertarian Party is a domestic agency. But imagine the irony if she made that request on behalf of a foreign adversary, in order to learn how much the CIA knows about those connections she has made over the past six years.

It’s all fascinating to speculate about, but the fact remains that McArdle, Malagon, and the rest of the Mises Caucus continues to spend all the money Libertarians have raised over the last few years, draining the reserves and running off members, staff, and activists. It doesn’t matter why she’s doing it, it’s still destructive to the Libertarian Party.

That’s why Best Vest stood up to McArdle and her minions, on behalf of the Libertarian Party members who were being ignored, to make McArdle either do the job she is required to do by D.C. nonprofit law, or be removed so someone professional can do it.

I’m advising on the efforts and helping to gather the support of those libertarians who want the Libertarian Party to be professionally managed by a board who works in the best interest of the organization, instead of engaging in self-dealing and open corruption.

As the suit moves to the next chapter, we will be needing volunteers and funds to keep taking the fight to Angela McArdle and making it clear that most Libertarians want a Libertarian Party that supports Libertarian candidates, not a MAGA subsidiary with different colors.

If you are a member, ask your representatives on the Libertarian National Committee why they haven’t joined the derivative lawsuit as a plaintiff or worked to address the violations described in the derivative suit.

Politics in 2024 is chaotic, but there is a path to reconstruct the Libertarian Party through that chaos.

Yours truly,

Nick

P.S. We will be reaching out to individuals about the next big effort soon.