Last updated on February 11, 2026
A report by Jake Porter. Read all of Porter’s political reporting at jakeporter.substack.com
In February 2024, Kennedy attended the Libertarian Party of California Annual Convention where he was given special treatment, including not pay the candidate’s speakers fee the announced Libertarian Party Presidential candidates were required to pay. At the Convention, attendees were required to go through metal detectors to listen to Kennedy discuss the issues with other Libertarian Presidential candidates who paid the fee for the privilege of being on stage with Kennedy.
Moderating that California event was Larry Sharpe. Sharpe has been a major figure in the Libertarian Party for the past decade, narrowly losing the party’s Vice-Presidential nomination to former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld in 2016, and later running for Governor of New York. Sharpe is a frequent guest at state conventions across the nation.
Sharpe moderating wouldn’t be odd if it not for the fact that he was paid $15,000 per month by a Kennedy PAC at the time of his moderating the event. According to CBS News, Sharpe was serving as Director of National Organizing for the PAC to focus on ballot access.
The American Values PAC paying Sharpe came under scrutiny from the Democratic National Committee for alleged illegal coordination with the Kennedy campaign.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign is flouting campaign finance law by outsourcing a critical campaign function – the collection of signatures required to appear on the ballot – to an outside Super PAC that is funded by Donald Trump’s top donor this cycle. This scheme between American Values 2024 and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign requires significant – and plainly illegal – coordination, to the tune of a $15 million in-kind contribution” said DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill. “This blatant disregard for federal law undermines the integrity of our democracy and electoral process, and the FEC must act decisively to put an end to this troubling scheme.”
According to FEC reports, Sharpe was paid $230,000 by the American Values PAC between December of 2023 and December of 2024. Sharpe was paid long after Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump – even after the election.
Sharpe’s company was also paid $51,850 by the Lars Mapstead Libertarian for President campaign for consulting work while he worked for the Kennedy PAC. Sharpe moderated Libertarian Presidential debates which included Mapstead. At the national convention, he ran as Mapstead’s Vice-Presidential candidate.
(Watch at the beginning of the New York state convention debate below where Presidential candidate Jacob Hornberger brings up Sharpe’s potential conflicts of interest and Sharpe’s answer)
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