OAN’s Abril Elfi
2:35 PM – Wednesday, January 24, 2024
An Arizona GOP chairman has resigned after an audio recording was released where he purportedly attempted to bribe Kari Lake to take a pause from politics.
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On Wednesday, Jeff DeWit (R-Ariz.) released a statement on X (Twitter) announcing his resignation and blaming Lake, alleging that she had threatened him by saying she would “release more recordings” if he did not resign.
“This morning, I was determined to fight for my position. However, a few hours ago I received an ultimatum from Lake’s team: resign or face the release of a new, more damaging recording,” his letter said. “I am truly unsure of its contents, but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk. I am resigning as Lake requested.”
Lake posted on X (Twitter) that she would be answering any questions regarding the “bribery scandal” on the online video platform Rumble at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Her advisers, Caroline Wren and Garrett Ventry, said in a statement that the “tape speaks for itself” and that “No one from the Kari Lake campaign threatened or blackmailed DeWit.”
In the conversation with Lake, DeWit can be heard saying that the unidentified people, “want you to stay out for two years. They want you to be on their team.”
“I’m not going to let these people in D.C. tell me not to run,” Lake says in the recording.
DeWit then asks, “Is there a number at which…”
“I could be bought?” Lake asks. “No…”
She told DeWit that, “this is about getting Trump out. It’s about getting DeSantis in,” and “I’m with Trump.”
“I actually just wish that you’d give me a counter-offer that was big. Give me a counter,” DeWit says.
“I can’t be bought,” she reiterated.
However, DeWit tried to claim in his written letter that Lake made a “selectively edited audio recording of our private conversation.”
“I genuinely believed I was offering a helpful perspective to someone I considered a friend,” he stated.
According to DeWit, Lake recently made it her “mission to destroy [him]” ever since they had a conversation in which he advised her to abandon her Senate campaign in order to concentrate on a subsequent bid for governor.
In October, Lake formally announced her Senate bid.
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