Arizona GOP chairman resigns after controversial audio recording involving Kari Lake

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5/AP) -- The Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party has resigned amid a growing number of calls to step down after a British tabloid released clips of him reportedly trying to “bribe” former gubernatorial candidate and television news anchor Kari Lake to not run for Senate.

The verified audio recording obtained by the Daily Mail reveals party chair Jeff DeWit asking Lake to “Just say, is there a number at which,” that appears to signify Lake to essentially “name her price.” Lake is heard in the audio tape taking offense to the remark, stating, “I can be bought? That’s what it’s about.” The clip continues with DeWit saying: “You can take a pause for a couple of years. You can go right back to what you’re doing.” To which Lake replies, “This is not about money, it’s about our country.”

At the time of the recording last March, Lake was waging an unsuccessful court fight challenging her loss in the 2022 race for Arizona governor and gearing up for a U.S. Senate campaign. Meanwhile, Republicans in Washington, bruised by a disappointing showing in the midterms, were talking openly about plans to seek GOP Senate nominees who would be more viable in general elections.

DeWit said in a statement announcing his exit that the tape was “selectively edited” and used in a “deceptive” way. He claims that despite the conversation appearing against Lake, she was actually employed by him in DeWit’s private company. DeWit claims since that conversation, that Lake has been on a “mission to destroy” him.

“I said things I regret, but I realize when hearing Lake’s recording that I was set up. I believe she orchestrated this entire situation to have control over the state party,” the statement read in part. The decision to step down on Wednesday was part of an “ultimatum,” DeWit said, adding that the Lake campaign threatened the release of a “more damaging” recording. “I am truly unsure of its contents, but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk,” DeWit said.

“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 continued in the letter, explaining his decision and his plans for the future.

He said he didn’t intend to bribe Lake but was offering candid advice for her to sit out the Senate race and run again for governor in 2028. He was employing Lake at his private company at the time, he said, and they’d 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,” DeWit said. “I genuinely believed I was offering a helpful perspective to someone I considered a friend.”

About an hour later, the Lake campaign fired back, saying in part that the “tape speaks for itself.”

“No one from the Kari Lake campaign threatened or blackmailed DeWit. It is unfortunate that Dewit hasn’t recognized how unethical his behavior was and still hasn’t apologized to Arizona Republicans,” the joint statement from senior advisors Caroline Wren and Garrett Ventry said. “DeWit’s false claims are just par for the course. The Arizona GOP must be relieved to have his resignation. Now we can focus on getting ethical leadership and win big in 2024.”

Lake, a former Phoenix television news anchor, has a penchant for weaponizing recordings of her confrontations. She routinely wears a small microphone during her public appearances while her husband, a former news photographer, records her interactions with supporters, critics, the press and anyone else she encounters. She sometimes posts videos of confrontational encounters on social media.

An “X” account associated with Lake’s campaign published a video of her attorney talking on speakerphone with a lawyer for Maricopa County as Lake claimed the county stole the 2022 race for Arizona governor from her. Courts have repeatedly rejected her claims of fraud.

Yet even as Lake delivered campaign-style talking points for an audience, not in the room, DeWit did not seem to catch on that he was being recorded.

The recording, first published by the Daily Mail, was leaked days before former President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for the Arizona GOP, which is in desperate need of cash, and the party’s annual state committee meeting.

Without naming her visitor, Lake has repeatedly described the meeting in her public appearances, using it to bolster her image as an outsider shaking up a corrupt establishment.

DeWit went down swinging, blasting Lake’s “disturbing tendency to to exploit private interactions for personal gain,” which he said is concerning given the amount of time Lake spends with Trump.

“I question how effective a United States Senator can be when they cannot be trusted to engage in private and confidential conversations,” DeWit said.

DeWit previously served as state treasurer after succeeding Doug Ducey in 2015. He was chief operating officer for Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns and was the chief financial officer of NASA during the Trump presidency. He was selected to serve as the head of the Arizona Republican Party in 2023 after firebrand Trump ally Kelli Ward. Ward, a former state senator, was best known for helping the former president in his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and was a vocal proponent of the claim that the election results were fraudulent. DeWit was seen as a trusted and experienced operative who could bridge the bitter divide between Trump loyalists and old-guard Republicans in Arizona, many of whom were brought into the party by the late Sen. John McCain.

He is the second state GOP chair to leave abruptly this month after Florida Republicans ousted Chairman Christian Ziegler as police investigate a rape allegation against him.

Full statement from Jeff DeWit

correction: We've updated our headline, removing potential ownership of the audio recording. While a social media profile connected to Lake's campaign released the full audio on their feed, it's not yet known who recorded or released the audio.

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