'Betrayal': Arizona GOP Chair Jeff DeWit resigns after recording of 'offer' to Kari Lake
Jeff DeWit, a former Arizona treasurer and Trump adviser, resigned as chair of the state GOP on Wednesday following the release of an audio recording in which he offered Kari Lake a lucrative job if she quits her U.S. Senate race.
In a written statement, DeWit said Lake's team had threatened him with the potential release of a "new, more damaging recording" unless he resigned immediately.
"I am truly unsure of its contents, but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk," he wrote. He added that he hopes she stops attacking him so he can return to the business world, "a field I find much more logical and prefer over politics."
In a live video on web-hosting platform Rumble on Wednesday evening, Lake criticized DeWit's remarks as well as his resignation letter for not including an apology to Arizonans.
"This is one of the worst things I've ever heard," Lake said of the recording she made. "It was so corrupt."
DeWit was elected to chair the Arizona GOP in January 2023. He was the chief operating officer for former President Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Trump later named him chief financial officer of NASA. He took over the Arizona GOP in January 2023 with a mission to unite and raise funds both from Trump's base and Republicans who don't support the former president.
Lake, who lost the 2022 governor's race to Democrat Katie Hobbs, apparently leaked the recording to the Daily Mail, which was the first news outlet to publish it. DeWit tells Lake in the recording that "powerful people" don't want her to run for Senate and asked her to consider taking their suggestion for a job and a two-year "pause."
Previously: Arizona Republican Party boss tried to keep Kari Lake out of Senate race by dangling job
"I'll tell you what I'm offering you," DeWit told her, saying there would be companies that could put her on the payroll. He repeatedly told her not to tell anyone about the conversation.
"I can't be bought," Lake responded.
"C'mon," DeWit urged her.
DeWit also said in the recording that he doubts Trump can win reelection due to fundraising problems. Lake responded: “This is about defeating Trump and I think that’s a bad, bad thing for our country.”
DeWit said in his statement that while he said things he regrets, he now believes Lake set up him and was a "betrayal" of their friendship. The recording came from a private conversation they had a year ago while she worked for a company he owns. He doesn't say in the statement which company, but in a 2022 financial disclosure, Lake reported working as a communication adviser for FeedMe Inc. in 2021 and 2022. The company is an earlier iteration of Superfeed Technologies, a campaign-promoting app company for which DeWit serves as CEO.
"I believe she orchestrated this entire situation to have control over the state party, and it is obvious from the recording that she crafted her performance responses with the knowledge that she was recording it, intending to use this recording later to portray herself as a hero in her own story," he wrote. "I question how effective a United States Senator can be when they cannot be trusted to engage in private and confidential conversations."
He acknowledged that he did offer her to leave the Senate race and try again for governor in two years, "it was a suggestion made in good faith, believe it could benefit both her future prospects and the party's overall strategy."
In her address on Wednesday, Lake did not answer a question about why it took her 10 months to release the recording.
She said she decided it was something she had to talk about at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., despite DeWit's desire to keep the offer quiet. Her CPAC speech included an allegation that she was "bribed" by a powerful person, but she didn't give details then.
She listened to the recording again only a few days ago, she said.
DeWit took over the party following four years of leadership by former lawmaker Kelli Ward, a prominent Trump supporter who falsely claimed to be an elector for Trump after he lost the 2020 election. The state party moved to a new headquarters last year but nearly went broke as donors wary of racking up more election losses dried up.
Fundraising has improved recently, though. The party announced last month it had a "record-breaking" last quarter of 2023, collecting more than $670,000 from over 7,500 donors.
DeWit said he remains a solid Trump advocate who is "eager to see him return to the White House."
The party should focus on unity and selecting quality candidates, he wrote.
"We are weakened by internal strife, underhanded tactics, and the erosion of trust," he wrote.
The state party's bylaws say the state committee should schedule a special meeting within 45 days to fill a vacancy of the chair, unless a mandatory meeting is scheduled within 90 days. The Republican State Committee is scheduled to hold its annual mandatory meeting on Jan. 27, but officials haven't yet said if a new chair will be appointed or elected then.
Former state lawmaker Jill Norgaard, the state party's first vice-chair, will serve as acting chair in the interim.
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jeff DeWit, Arizona GOP chair, resigns after Kari Lake 'offer'