Arizona GOP chairman steps down amid bribery allegations

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Leaked audio recordings of Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake and Arizona GOP Chairman Jeff DeWitt seem to suggest the high-level Republican Party official bribed the former television anchor not to run for office.

The 10-minute audio was published by the Daily Mail of London Tuesday and the fallout was swift. DeWitt resigned Wednesday.

In the audio, DeWitt allegedly offers Lake a variety of deals, such as being put on a company payroll or financial compensation in exchange for taking a pause from the political scene for a couple of years.

“There are very powerful people who want to keep you out,” DeWit said. “What they’re willing to do is put their money where their mouth is in a big way.”

He repeatedly indicated that people “back east” had sent him as a messenger, and he requested Lake’s discretion. He said she could say no, but “the conversation never happened,” and “don’t tell people.”

Lake rejected complicity and refused to cooperate. She told DeWitt she didn’t have a price tag. $10 million, $20 million, $30 million, a billion – the answer was no.

“This is not about money, it’s about our country,” she said.

After the allegations came to light, Arizona GOP officials began calling for DeWitt to step down. In his resignation letter, DeWitt accused Lake of violating their friendship with a secret recording. He claimed Lake had set up the whole situation and questioned Lake’s trustworthiness in the Senate if she couldn’t be trusted with “private, confidential conversations,” according to National Public Radio.

Lake addressed the leak, noting that she had mentioned the bribe on several occasions since March 2023, when the incident occurred, and the mainstream media had asked zero questions.

“The name came out, and now they’re all of a sudden interested in it,” she said.

During the live Townhall.com event Wednesday night, Lake fielded questions from supporters and revealed another attempted bribe. She told the audience a wealthy donor offered to create a political action committee (PAC) for her campaign with $1 million. However, when the man listed his “asks” of distancing herself from former President Trump, other MAGA Republicans, and MAGA in general, Lake said she turned him down, with “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Lake added that someone in her campaign couldn’t fathom turning down a million dollars because she didn’t want to do a “few simple things.”

Lake clarified that they weren’t simple, and she wasn’t willing to take money with strings attached.

AZFamily reported that DeWitt’s actions aren’t new to politics, but it is new for the American people to get a glimpse of what is happening behind the scenes at all levels of politics.

Robyn Spradlin is a freelance journalist working as a contributor for Christian News Journal covering news and politics on the national and state levels. She has worked as a copywriter for Victory News on the Victory Channel since 2022. Robyn has an BA in Communication Studies and MA in Journalism from Regent University and is a member of the Evangelical Press Association. She is an author, evangelistic minister and a musician. She lives in South Florida where she enjoys the outdoors when she’s not writing.