LNC COMMITTEES AND PROCEDURE
- The new LNC members despite their promises failed to overhaul *the way things are done* on the LNC, meaning that the same useless committees, the same role confusion between board and staff, and the same power politics has continued. This is largely due to the actions of Caryn Ann Harlos, Steven Nekhaila, and other incumbents, but most of the others go along without doing anything about it, including Angela.
- The committees, of which there are many, are often aimless and unproductive. They mostly involve brainstorming ideas for projects which LPHQ is too understaffed or ill-equipped to undertake or that don’t fit within a coherent overarching strategy. They’re also a black hole of volunteer time where discussion and activity goes undocumented with virtually no cross-communication between committees. Other than the clashing personalities, this bloated organizational structure might be the single biggest problem causing National’s dysfunction. No one has done a single thing to roll back the size and scope of the LNC and its many subcommittees; in fact Angela has created MORE useless committees.
CARYN ANN HARLOS
- Caryn Ann has a consistent pattern of dramatic grandstanding and emotional manipulation. Combined with her knowledge of the rules, this results in a working environment where the Chair, the staff, and the board are domineered and held hostage by her theatrics.
- Angela never wanted Caryn Ann Harlos as Secretary. In fact, Anna and Angela started a group chat two years ago to gather supporters quietly to prevent Caryn Ann from getting the Mises Caucus endorsement in 2022. (It pretty much died when she was removed by the previous LNC and ascended to martyr status.) Angela fought Michael Heise on this endorsement and lost.
- Angela to Anna about Caryn Ann, just in the past year alone (direct quotes, refer to screenshots):
- “She’s getting unhinged again”
- “I don’t understand how she finds work”
- “She’s also really fucking rude and dramatic”
- “Caryn Ann loves the sound of her own voice”
- “Caryn Ann is driving me insane today. Now I don’t feel confident handing her the gavel during the budget meeting. She’s too biased on certain matters.”
- “I’m afraid she’s gonna get everyone riled up. People are legit afraid to disagree with her. She’s like the pink mafia. This is a shakedown.”
- “No one wants to be the topic of one of her shows.”
- “I feel like I’m one of the few that has always viewed her as cringe. I have an LNC that is afraid of conflict”
- Anna: “Are there really people who are going to vote down Lainie’s contract because they’re afraid of CAH?” Angela “I’m afraid it’s possible … if I find out Heise had anything to do with this I’ll lose my shit”
- “Good grief, Caryn Ann is dramatic. She’s saying that the minutes from her removal have impacted her ability to get a job. I would think the screeching videos are the bigger obstacle”
- Kathy Yeniscavich (ExComm member, EPCC member, former Region 1 Alt) to Miguel (direct quotes, refer to screenshots):
- “Another whole drama is CAH modified the APRC language to empower them to have a more proactive role in PR/Comms. She told the PM Committee Angela and Lainie approved. Guess what, Lainie specifically argued against it.”
- “TBH I don’t like the current trend of CAH making an issue where there is none. Not cool she went on about fan employee’s job title] in front of staff.”
- “I also see a trend where this board has largely been a “yes” board. There is little dissension or contrary discussion.”
- Right after Reno, Angela was actually telling Anna “I need to use Miguel to keep Caryn Ann in check.” But despite repeated urging and support from both Miguel and Anna, Angela failed to speak up, make motions, or sway opinions and has since made Caryn Ann in charge or involved of countless authoritative roles and departments. They now in public are feigning the appearance of being in lockstep.
- Caryn Ann not only chairs the most committees, she chairs the Policy Manual Committee (editing the PM which authorizes all other committees and procedure). Many of her policy modifications have been rubber stamped, while the prospect of removing cumbersome procedure or unnecessary committees is not entertained.
- Caryn Ann, Dustin Nanna, and others have dug their heels in on the CRM problem, pressuring staff in private, amplifying threats of disaffiliation, and using parliamentary barriers. In Angela’s words, Caryn Ann has been “trying to get us all to publicly commit to CiviCRM for reasons she can’t articulate and she’s making comments about it on our behalf.” The issue continues to be unresolved 15 months later despite Miguel’s attempts.
Stewart, I am a hardcore radical and anarchist, and believe rules are important or it is anarchy as chaos. I am only a problem to those who want to be anti-nominian. I was never at the “center” of Mises those I was an active member. I never wanted to be nor was I welcome at the “center” – Mr. Duque found me a hinderance, and that is fine by me. If George releases the rest of the files, you will see the LNC members had their own secret chat, and I am noticeable by my absence. I wouldn’t have joined if asked, I refused other such “chats” on past LNCs as I know they are always trouble even if innocently started, and these “secret chats” are downright nasty and backstabbing. Mr. Duque tried to make the LNC completely secretive, as it is now, and I prevented it. What he called streamlining was ironically centralizing power in the caucus, and yes, I resisted that. The complete nastiness of the whole dump towards me in particular is quite shocking, but I now count it a badge of honor though it was very hurtful at the time. They were fine to use me when convenient. The “inner circle” was very culty, and I am glad to be free, but it saddens me to see all MC members painted badly as they are not though as time goes on, more and more are leaving.
I will acknowledge that center was probably a bad choice of words. I probably should have said involved instead, since I believe you have said were involved to some extent as a member of the caucus, even if it was not in a leadership position inside mises.
Secret chats are impossible to stop, and sometimes just as impossible to detect and uncover. I agree that they tend to become nasty in their nature over time.
And I certainly agree that many of the members of their caucus, especially those not involved in leadership, very likely did not understand what was really going on behind the scenes. As more of this type of information is published, it is likely that they will lose membership and support for their control of the party.
Meanwhile, the big question is still this: where’s the money? I don’t believe things add up. Contributions to nonprofits set up by the national chair? Large contributions from Kennedy and his related supporters? Something is going on, or went on, that the members of the libertarian party deserve to know about.
Please know I wasn’t trying to be critical. I wouldn’t blame you if you thought I was more in the “center” than I actually was but they kept me at arm’s length as a useful tool. All the things they complained about when I tried to keep them to rules, they LOVED to use me as a weapon to keep others to rules. Nasty doesn’t even begin to describe the chats. What makes it worse was during the whole time the same people were nice to my face, and one of them (I am not going to give a name), I loved truly as a friend. But while I on the LNC in an officer position I was never in a position of trust. I can naive and did not see a lot of this clearly until now. Even after these files were released, I still had some past hurts I was dealing with so I just walled these things off. I should have cut ties then. But I walled it off as mentally I could not handle the betrayal. I believed hollow apologies and left it behind. Now it doesn’t hurt, I realize that what is going on now isn’t my fault, it is just who some of those people are. The one very good friend though still hurts and I suspect will for some time. As one gets older, one does not make friends so easily, and I foolishly imagined still being friends with this person a decade from now.
From what I can observe, and remember this is from outside since I was not even following what was going on in the LP in 2022, you and others were used to draw in needed support for their core group to get elected.
Internal party management had already been disrupted significantly, giving them an opportunity that they took full advantage of.
It is interesting to read this analysis. Many of these issues have existed for decades. From what I have read, the leaker was purged from the LNC shortly after exposing this information.
Why didn’t the leak affect the mises caucus in 2024? Looking at it now, there was clearly enough evidence out there for people to at least question them. Yet, they were reelected.
Will they retain power in 2026? With all this talk of taking back the LP, how will it be done and by who? And how many years will it take them to put it back together?
These are, of course, all rhetorical questions on my part.
I thought it could have been, but no one really seems interested in taking back control, I gave myself an early christmas gift and reregistered unaffiliated the other day because after months of trying to organize people and get things set up everyone stopped replying to me ♂️. No biggie ultimatley, I think I will do better electionwise unaffiliated than as a Libertarian anyway.
Duque resigned but he was not one of the good guys. It is just their back stabbing ways. He thought he was Angela’s right hand man and she betrayed him. There is a theme here. But quite obviously no love lost between myself and the Duques though they were nice to my face. He did not leak this for “the greater good.” He leaked it for revenge. Against me for getting in the way. Same for Steve. And to hurt Angela. There are no good motives here. I think it did hurt Steve though he joked it off. It certainly hurt me and showed me how to distrust. Though not how to distrust enough as I said about the lost unnamed friend. I know this is a voyeuristic look inside for many but a lot of people were hurt.
Daniel, I emailed you.
I always thought of Ms. Harlos as a hard-core member of the radical caucus. I recall seeing her at their booth a number of times at conventions.
So when I started following politics again last year after my several year hiatus, I was quite surprised to find that she seemed to now be in the center of the Mises Cabal.
Whether you like her techniques, or not, I would expect someone who is a hard-core anarchist, assuming my memory is correct, to act the way she has. The party got what it voted for. To some, that is a problem. To others, it is not.