(Houston, TX) October 29, 2026 – The Libertarian Party is calling for enforceable limits on financial conflicts, public explanations for clemency decisions, and full compliance with federal transparency requirements, arguing that voters deserve more than another promise from officials who benefit from the rules they write.
The demand comes as corruption ranks among voters’ most serious concerns. A Fox News survey conducted October 9–12 found 88% of registered voters extremely or very concerned about government corruption, compared with 85% for inflation and high prices. In an August Change Research survey, 40% selected corruption among their three most important political issues, the highest share for any option tested.
“Voters figured this out before the political class did,” said Evan McMahon, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. “They see political access carrying a price, powerful people receiving clemency, and Congress proposing a stock-trading ban that lets members keep their stocks. They deserve rules that remove conflicts and consequences that survive a change in party control.”
Recent reporting shows why access itself deserves scrutiny. Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned as ambassador to Greece on October 13 following reports alleging misconduct. The Wall Street Journal reported that she sought $100,000 from a donor to pay a credit-card bill while offering access to administration officials. Her lawyer disputed the messages’ authenticity. The State Department’s inspector general was reportedly examining the allegations.
Axios also reported a disputed donor-access message attributed to Richard Grenell. He denies sending it; White House counsel is investigating.
Separately, the Journal reported that Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton attended a New Year’s Eve party in Dubai in 2024 with Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail, who were then under federal indictment over an alleged $15 million hospital-embezzlement scheme. Ahmed had donated $190,000 to Paxton, including $25,000 shortly after his indictment, according to the report.
The footage does not establish that Paxton knew of or participated in the alleged fraud. These allegations are not convictions, and the party is not asking voters to treat them as findings of guilt.
The broader question is why proximity to government is worth so much. A seat at an event, a phone call, or an introduction becomes valuable when the people in the room can determine a business’s prospects or intervene in someone’s dealings with government. Requiring honest officials matters, and reducing the power to dispense favors is the only way to get them.
Clemency raises a different accountability problem. The Justice Department’s records include relief for Democratic former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, as well as Republican former Reps. George Santos and Stephen Buyer. Cuellar received a pardon before trial on bribery and money-laundering charges Santos received a commutation of his fraud sentence, and Buyer received a pardon following his securities-fraud conviction.
These were different cases and different forms of relief. They nevertheless demand a public explanation of why particular officeholders received it. A clemency power that can correct injustice should not become an escape route from accountability for public corruption.
Transparency requires the same distinction between legitimate protections and political convenience. The Epstein Files Transparency Act prohibits withholding records to prevent embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity. It also protects victims’ private information and permits other narrowly defined withholdings.
DOJ announced that its January 30 release brought its production to nearly 3.5 million pages. Days later, it withdrew thousands of documents and media after victims’ lawyers reported exposed identifying information. In a separate dispute, a judge directed DOJ to release specified unredacted records or explain its withholdings; the department defended the redactions in July.
Victims deserve protection, and the public deserves an accounting. Neither obligation excuses failure on the other.
Congress’s proposed stock-trading restrictions show how reform can leave the central conflict intact. The House passed the Stop Insider Trading Act on July 22, 232–198. It would prohibit new purchases of covered investments by members, their spouses, and their dependent children, but allow existing holdings and sales subject to advance public notice. It would not impose the same restrictions on executive-branch officials. The House also attached a separate voter-identification provision.
Members of both parties have proposed stronger restrictions. The Libertarian Party’s demand is that Congress enact a meaningful ownership ban rather than leave officials invested in individual companies whose fortunes government can influence.
The party is calling for six reforms:
- Enforce the Epstein disclosure law. Release all records the law requires, protect victims’ identities and private information, withhold abusive imagery, and provide specific public justifications for other legally permitted redactions.
- Expose financial conflicts promptly. Require same-day disclosure of reportable gifts, privately funded travel, and outside payments accepted by senior officials and ambassadors. Prohibit personal solicitation of money from people with business before their offices.
- Explain clemency decisions. Publish a written justification with every grant, including the reasons for relief in public-corruption cases, while preserving clemency as a remedy for wrongful convictions and unjust sentences.
- End individual-stock conflicts. Require members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children to divest individual stocks, and extend comparable rules to senior executive-branch officials, with diversified funds available as an alternative.
- Connect the public money trail. Make federal award, subaward, and applicable lobbying-disclosure records searchable together, with clear recipient identities and audit findings. Lawful political advocacy alone is not evidence of misuse.
- Enforce corruption laws consistently. Investigate credible allegations independently, protect due process, and hold officeholders to the same legal standards as everyone else.
“The uniparty cannot answer this with another promise to police itself,” McMahon said. “Publish the records. Explain the decisions. Remove the financial conflicts. And reduce the power that makes access to government something worth buying. Libertarians are asking voters to elect people committed to changing those arrangements, including when the change limits their own power.”
-END-
About Us
Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the largest third party in the United States, with nearly 700,000 registered voters nationwide and affiliates in all fifty states. Thousands of Libertarians hold elected office across the country, the majority of them in nonpartisan local races. The party advocates for individual liberty, personal responsibility, free markets, and a government limited to protecting the rights of individuals.
Communications Department, Libertarian National Committee
press@lp.org · 571-213-1281
For more information, visit lp.org.