(BrightPress.org) – Arizona GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit resigned on Tuesday, January 23rd after it was revealed he had relayed an attempt to bribe Senate candidate Kari Lake in exchange for her not running. Lake published a ten-minute recording wherein DeWit repeatedly probed and prodded Lake to see if there was “a number” that would satisfy her which she rebuffed.
DeWit suggested “powerful people” wanted to keep Lake from running and said they’d pay to get what they wanted. After the release of the audio, Lake called for DeWit to resign and he agreed. In a public resignation letter posted to X (Twitter), DeWit suggested Lake’s team had threatened to release more recordings which was subsequently denied by Lake’s representatives.
Lake is a well-known Trump ally who previously ran for Arizona’s governorship and lost to then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. The election was hotly contested and lawsuits over its legitimacy are still playing out in court.
Lake suggests she cannot be bought in the audio. She also asked who these mysterious men were, to which DeWit did not elaborate beyond suggesting they were “back east.” DeWit also asked Lake to keep their discussion between them several times in the clip.
Arizona is a swing state which makes its internal politics subject to attempts from external influence like we see here. The recent shenanigans attempting to bribe Lake show just how dirty the political game really is. In the recording, Lake is stunned by the casual corruption and DeWit implies this kind of occurrence is a regular feature of our democracy.
By Wednesday, January 24th, DeWit was doing damage control putting out a statement that claimed the released audio was “selectively edited” calling it a “deceptive tactic.”
DeWit is now characterizing the conversation as giving an alternative perspective to “a friend” and not a bribe.
Members of Arizona’s Republican party who support Donald Trump have previously called for DeWit’s resignation. The timing coincides with Trump’s return to Arizona to bolster his campaign in the state which will precede the yearly meeting of Arizona’s GOP.
Copyright 2024, BrightPress.org
