By Rob Crilly, Senior US Political Reporter for Dailymail.Com in Manchester, New Hampshire
19:30 24 January 2024, updated 21:11 24 January 2024
- Last year, Carrie Lake said she was offered a bribe to get out of politics
- On Tuesday, DailyMail.com published an audio recording of the meeting at her home
- Just over 24 hours later, Jeff DeWitt announced his resignation
Jeff DeWitt resigned as chairman of the Arizona Republican Party on Wednesday, 24 hours after DailyMail.com published leaked audio of him offering Carrie Lake an amazing job or money to retire from politics.
In the recording, he can be heard explaining that influential people would offer her a job or money if she quit politics for two years.
In his resignation letter, he accused Lake of setting him up by recording a private conversation.
“This morning I was determined to fight for my position,” said DeWitt, 51. “However, a few hours ago I received an ultimatum from Lake’s team: Resign today or face the release of a new, more damaging record.”
He said he was resigning in the hope that it would end her attacks on him.
DeWitt was chief operating officer for Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns. The Trump administration nominated him for a senior role at NASA, and he took over the Arizona Republican Party last January.
The leaked audio of a conversation in early March 2023 sent shockwaves through Republican circles.
A day earlier, 54-year-old Lake asked for his resignation. When she arrived at Donald Trump’s campaign party in Nashua, New Hampshire, she told DailyMail.com that the American people were fed up.
‘Tthe truth is coming out now, she said.
During their conversation in March last year, it was known that Lake would run for the Senate. Days after DeWit’s approach, she went public with her claims that powerful forces had tried to stop her from running, but never revealed who was behind it.
On Monday, Arizona talk show host Garrett Lewis called out DeWitt, who was elected party chairman in January of last year.
Audio obtained by DailyMail.com revealed how he proposed at her home in early March last year.
“There are very powerful people who want to keep you out,” he can be heard saying.
Later in the 10-minute recording, he asks her for a “number” and pitches the idea of finding her a job that will keep her busy for two years.
In his resignation statement, DeWit claimed he simply offered to delay her plans for two years to run for governor again.
“This was a proposal made in good faith, believing that it could benefit both her future prospects and the party’s overall strategy,” he said.
He admitted he had “said things I regret” but accused Lake of “deceptive tactics” and releasing “selectively edited” audio.
“The recording from more than ten months ago is not only taken out of context, but also undermines the integrity of private discussions critical of the party leadership,” he said.
Lake Carolina Senior Counsel Wren and Garrett denied any underhand tactics.
“No one from the Cary Lake campaign threatened or blackmailed DeWitt,” they said.
They called on him to apologize to Arizonans and added, “The tape speaks for itself.”
In it, DeWitt tells Lake, one of the most public faces of the former president’s MAGA movement and a woman often touted as a 2024 vice presidential pick, that she thinks Trump will lose and it’s time to make way for someone else.
After asking her not to mention the conversation to anyone, he makes his first proposal.
“So the question I got today from back east was, ‘Are there any companies out there or anything that can just put her on the payroll to protect her?’
Lake reacted with outrage.
“It’s about defeating Trump, and I think that’s a bad, bad thing for our country,” she said.
At the time of their conversation, Lake was publicly considering a run for the U.S. Senate.
And the episode reveals the tension caused after she refused to accept defeat in the 2022 Arizona governor’s race.
She became a national figure, becoming a regular guest on Fox News, echoing Trump’s election denial. That put her at odds with the more traditional wing of the Republican Party, which feared that a new breed of Trump loyalists could alienate big donors.
She announced her candidacy in October.
The new 10-minute audio clip features DeWit pleading for secrecy.
“If you say no, it’s okay, it’s your choice, don’t tell people,” he tells Lake.
He later lays out the rationale behind the proposal.
“I think what it really comes down to for a lot of people is not something like control or an agenda,” he says. “It’s about the ability to raise money to win.”
Lake sticks to his guns.
“I don’t want to make a deal with people like that. It is a hill worth dying on,” she said.
“I’m not… if they’re going to steal the election to make me and our movement disappear. I don’t let them do that.
“I owe it to the people of Arizona to carry my torch and voice.”
