Jeff DeWit, the now former chair of the Arizona Republican Party, resigned on Wednesday after a leaked recording showed him trying to bribe Kari Lake, a U.S. Senate candidate, to stay out of the race.
Kari Lake secretly recorded DeWit offering her a job and asking her to name a price that would keep her out of politics. She refused the offer and released the recording to the public, causing a scandal and a rift among Arizona Republicans.
According to the recording, which was made by Lake in her living room in March 2023, Jeff DeWit told Lake that “there are very powerful people who want to keep you out” of the Senate race and that “they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is, in a big way”.
He did not specify who these people were, but he implied that they were “back East”, suggesting that they were Republican leaders in Washington, who were looking for more moderate and viable candidates to win the Senate majority.
He asked Lake not to tell anyone about the conversation, and said that he was trying to help her as a friend. He then asked Lake if there was a number at which she would be willing to accept a job and stay out of politics.
Lake got offended by the proposition, rejected the offer and said that she could not be bought. She accused DeWit of being part of the “swamp” and betraying the people of Arizona.
Kari Lake has been calling out those who tried to bribe and keep her from running on her X account. One of the recent captions read:
“Help me return our Government back to WE THE PEOPLE!”
She also held a live stream on her Facebook page, where she answered questions from her supporters and criticized DeWit and the media.
