Arizona GOP chair Jeff DeWit steps down amid bribery allegations

Arizona GOP in turmoil as party chair Jeff DeWit resigns amidst explosive bribery scandal involving secret recordings.

A scandal rocked the Arizona Republican party on Wednesday, when the state chair Jeff DeWit, resigned amid allegations of bribery.

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit has resigned after he could be heard in a leaked recording offering a job and asking U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake to name a price that would keep her out of politics. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP, File) (AP)

A secret recording revealed that DeWit had tried to persuade Kari Lake, a Republican Senate candidate and a loyalist of former president Donald Trump, to drop out of the race by offering her money from “very powerful people”.

The recording, which was made by Lake herself and leaked to the Daily Mail, captured DeWit saying: “there are very powerful people who want to keep you out” of the Senate race and that “they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is, in a big way”.

Lake, who had lost the governor’s race to Democrat Katie Hobbs and was now challenging Democrat Ruben Gallego and possibly independent Kyrsten Sinema for the Senate seat, refused to be “bought” and denounced DeWit and his backers as “corrupt”.

“They should want me. I’m a great candidate, people love me. These people are corrupt,” Lake said in the leaked audio. DeWit repeatedly asked Lake not to tell anyone about the conversation.

I am resigning as Lake requested: DeWit

DeWit announced his resignation on Wednesday, claiming that he was blackmailed by Lake’s team, who threatened to release more recordings unless he stepped down.

“I am resigning as Lake requested, in the hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks.”

Lake’s team denied this, saying they did not blackmail or threaten DeWit.

DeWit also defended himself by saying that the audio was “selectively edited” and a “deceptive tactic” and that Lake was actually working for his private company when they had the conversation 10 months ago, implying that there were legal issues involved. Lake, a former TV anchor, often records herself with a microphone to promote her online brand.

DeWit insisted that he was not trying to bribe Lake, but rather “offering a helpful perspective to someone I considered a friend”.

The bribery scandal exposed the deep divisions within the Arizona Republican party, which has shifted to the far right and embraced Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, while the state has become more competitive and centrist. The timing of the leak was also significant, as Trump was planning to visit Arizona later this week, followed by the state party’s annual meeting.