Jeff DeWit, a former Arizona treasurer and Trump adviser, resigned as chair of the state GOP on Wednesday following the release of an audio recording in which he offered Kari Lake a lucrative job if she quits her U.S. Senate race.
In a written statement, DeWit said Lake’s team had threatened him with the potential release of a “new, more damaging recording” unless he resigned immediately.
“I am truly unsure of its contents, but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk,” he wrote. He added that he hopes she stops attacking him so he can return to the business world, “a field I find much more logical and prefer over politics.”
In a live video on web-hosting platform Rumble on Wednesday evening, Lake criticized DeWit’s remarks as well as his resignation letter for not including an apology to Arizonans.
“This is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard,” Lake said of the recording she made. “It was so corrupt.”…
Lake, who lost the 2022 governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, apparently leaked the recording to the Daily Mail, which was the first news outlet to publish it. DeWit tells Lake in the recording that “powerful people” don’t want her to run for Senate and asked her to consider taking their suggestion for a job and a two-year “pause.”
“I’ll tell you what I’m offering you,” DeWit told her, saying there would be companies that could put her on the payroll. He repeatedly told her not to tell anyone about the conversation.
“I can’t be bought,” Lake responded.
“C’mon,” DeWit urged her.