Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit has been caught on a leaked audio recording attempting to bribe Arizona 2022 gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake into staying out of the state's Senate race. He immediately resigned after the leaked recording was published.
DeWit handed in his resignation on Wednesday, Jan. 24, after serving in his role as GOP chairman for only a year. In the recording that forced him to resign, DeWit appears to be asking Lake to name her price to stay out of politics for two years. (Related: Damning report reveals Big Tech's interference in Kari Lake's election.)
Lake can be heard in the audio pushing back on DeWit, refusing to leave the Senate race and stating that she can't be bought. Lake is currently running for the Republican Party's nomination for Senate in Arizona. She is expected to face off against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who does not have any serious challengers in the Democratic primary. Newly independent incumbent Sen. Krysten Sinema has not announced whether or not she will run for reelection.
British tabloid the Daily Mail broke the story regarding the recording on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Following the leak of the recording, Lake immediately called for DeWit's resignation, telling one reporter that "he's got to resign."
"We can't have somebody who is corrupt and compromised running the Republican Party," she added.
DeWit claims audio recording taken out of context
In his message announcing his resignation, DeWit said the Daily Mail "selectively edited" the recording it published. Without providing any evidence, DeWit further claimed that Lake's team informed him ahead of time that they would release the recording if he did not voluntarily step down.
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"I am truly unsure of its contents," DeWit said of the alleged recording. "But considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk. I am resigning as Lake requested, in (the) hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks, allowing me to return to the business sector – a field I find much more logical and prefer over politics."
DeWit said he did not intend to bribe Lake but was only offering advice for her to sit out the Senate race and instead run again for governor in 2026. At the time, Lake was employed at DeWit's private company and they had had "many conversations where I was looking out for her financial interests."
"Our relationship was based on friendship, and the conversation that is now being scrutinized was an open, unguarded exchange between friends in the living room of her house," said DeWit. "I genuinely believed I was offering a helpful perspective to someone I considered a friend."
"I question how effective a United States senator can be when they cannot be trusted to engage in private and confidential conversations," DeWit concluded.
Lake's campaign team has denied that anyone from the team "threatened or blackmailed" DeWit into resigning. Lake herself asserted to reporters that the audio recording was authentic.
DeWit's resignation comes as more moderate and establishment Republicans are openly discussing plans to seek Republican Senate nominees who they believe are more electable to the general public. DeWit reportedly represents a significant section of the Arizona GOP that believes Lake is unelectable.
"There are very powerful people that want to keep you out," DeWit said in the recorded conversation with Lake. "But they're willing to put their money where their mouth is in a big way."
DeWit's resignation also compounds the problems for the Arizona Republican Party, which has been beset with financial problems over the last couple of years due to poor fundraising and previous large amounts of spending to help former President Donald Trump's legal challenges to the 2020 election.
"This isn't the kind of dissension you want if you're the Arizona Republican Party," commented Ja'han Jones for NBC. "Now the party is steeped in chaos just as the primaries are set to kick off."
Watch this Jan. 24 episode of "The Blessed To Teach Show" as host Scott Bennett discusses DeWit's resignation.
This video is from the Blessed To Teach channel on Brighteon.com.
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