The Libertarian National Committee has filed a civil lawsuit against former Chair Angela McArdle and her domestic partner, Austin Padgett, seeking more than $250,000 over allegations related to financial conflicts and diverted fundraising opportunities.
LNC Chair Evan McMahon notified national committee members of the lawsuit on the public Business List Tuesday after receiving a file-stamped copy of the complaint. According to the copy, it was originally filed October 1 in Travis County, Texas. The case names both McArdle and Padgett and seeks no more than $1 million in total monetary relief.
The bulk of the suit concerns Freedom Calls LLC, a fundraising company owned by Padgett, which the national committee paid $49,600 between February 2024 and January 2025. The LNC alleges McArdle failed to disclose Padgett’s ownership or get the required approval ahead of time for contracts involving closely related parties. The complaint also says she continued to obscure his role when other national committee members began asking who was behind the company.
The LNC later voted to terminate its contract with Freedom Calls, with members approving the motion in a 15-0 vote with one member present but not voting.
The LNC similarly revisits an earlier arrangement dating to July 2023 under which Padgett was paid directly by the organization. At the time, McArdle hired him directly as an independent fundraising contractor without first telling the full committee about their romantic relationship. The LNC later approved that arrangement after the conflict became known, and Padgett received more than $32,000.
Both arrangements later became a major focus of a special investigatory committee commissioned by the LNC around the time McArdle resigned as chair in January 2025. The 94-page SIC report, released later that June, found Freedom Calls had made 13,738 calls while raising only $2,468.57 for the party.
The complaint also calls out Rescue the West, which McArdle incorporated in 2024, and Libertarian Unity, where she served as treasurer. The LNC argues that McArdle sought money for both organizations from outside groups that could have been pursued for the benefit of the party instead.
In the case of Rescue the West, the complaint identifies $655,000 brought in from the Kennedy Victory Fund, American Values 2024, and the MAHA Alliance, all groups tied to or supportive of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 political efforts. Regarding Libertarian Unity, that group later received more than $91,000 from the Kennedy Victory Fund.
The LNC says those transactions pertaining to Rescue the West and Libertarian Unity, in conjunction with Padgett’s earlier contracts, ultimately contributed to the national organization experiencing financial harm.
The national organization is now seeking the return of money it says was improperly paid, as well as damages related to fundraising opportunities it says were diverted, along with attorney’s fees and other relief. As of this article’s publication, the lawsuit remains pending, with the LNC requesting a jury trial.
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