Arizona Republican Party Chair Jeff DeWit allegedly spoke to GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake, detailing a plan to encourage her not to run last year, according to a report.
A conversation between the two was recorded and published on Tuesday by the U.K. Daily Mail.
In the audio clip, a man who the Mail reported it had confirmed is DeWit could be heard telling Lake that there were powerful people who did not want to see her run.
He suggested she wait for two years and then offered her an undisclosed amount of money that he said should make her happy — which would come from people “back east.”
In the audio clip, Lake declined the offer while her counterpart refused to divulge “who” wanted her to stay out of the race.
🚨Bombshell audio reveals top Republican official tried to BRIBE Kari Lake to not run for the Senate in Arizona:
“Is there any companies out there or something that could just put her on the payroll to keep her out?” pic.twitter.com/rMBnPmMboP
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 23, 2024
“There are very powerful people who want to keep you out,” DeWit reportedly said, adding those people were “willing to put their money where their mouth is in a big way.”
Will Lake’s response increase her approval among frustrated voters?
Lake seemed taken aback by the conversation, which DeWit reportedly told her she should not divulge ever occurred.
“Don’t tell people,” he said.
She responded, ”This is about defeating Trump, and I think that’s a bad, bad thing for our country.”
The man reported to be DeWit then asked her to come up with a dollar amount, but she cut him off.
He said, “Just say, is there a number at which …”
She fired back, “I can be bought?”
She ultimately concluded, “’I don’t want to make a deal with these kinds of people. This is a hill worth dying on.”
Lake recalled an attempt at bribing her not to run for the Senate at CPAC last year — a claim much of the establishment media used to smear her.
“They came to my door, and they tried to bribe me out of getting out of politics,” Lake said in March 2023. “I’m telling you this because this is how disgusting politics is. A mom who runs for office, and they’re afraid of me?”
She continued, “This person standing before me was sent at the request of some powerful people back East.
“They want me out of politics. But wait a minute, I thought they already stopped us. Why are they so afraid? I thought they already stopped our movement.”
When reporting on Lake’s claim at the time, The Independent reported on it with the headline, “Kari Lake spins tale of attempted bribery to drop out of politics.”
The Western Journal has reached out to both Lake and DeWit for comment.
