DES MOINES, Iowa – The Libertarian Party of Iowa (LPIA) submitted evidence to legal counsel and appropriate authorities indicating that its former chair, Michael Conner Jr, allegedly engaged in unauthorized transactions and filing inaccurate ethics reports since August of 2020. A preliminary analysis conducted by the LPIA puts the amount of unauthorized transactions at approximately $10,000.
Conner was removed as chairman by the state party’s judicial committee.
The Libertarian Party of Iowa scheduled a public meeting over Zoom at Sunday, November 21st at 7:00 PM CST for concerned members and donors to transparently review the findings of this investigation, the events that allowed this to occur, and the changes that are being put in place to move forward.
Former Libertarian candidate for Governor, Jake Porter, tweeted, “It appears almost the entire funds that we left the Libertarian Party of Iowa with in 2020 were spent on unauthorized transactions. What did members of the SCC know and when did they know it? Why did they take this long to report it to members?”
Porter announced on October 28 that he was leaving the Libertarian Party saying he would only rejoin if the state party if “they decide to prioritize their fiduciary responsibility.”
I have changed my party registration to no-party. I will only rejoin the LPIA if they decide to prioritize their fiduciary responsibility. I do not care about the next love-in convention with "celebertarians"
— Jake Porter (@jakedporter) October 29, 2021
Joseph Howe, chairman of the Polk County Libertarian Party, on behalf of Polk County Libertarians expressed support for Conner’s removal and the state party’s investigation.
We look forward to the @LPIowa’s investigation results and transparency in the @LPNational pic.twitter.com/0K75OSE8OQ
— Joseph Howe, PCLP Co-Chair (@chairmanhowe) October 30, 2021
