By Brady Knox. Media: Washingtonexaminer
Arizona GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit appeared to offer Republican Kari Lake a bribe not to run for Senate in Arizona in an audio recording released Tuesday.
According to the conversation obtained by the Daily Mail, DeWit asked Lake last March to name her price to stay out of the Senate race. He ominously added that āvery powerful peopleā are trying to keep her out of the contest.
āSo the ask I got today from back east was: āIs there any companies out there or something that could just put her on the payroll to keep her out?āā DeWit said, to which Lake scoffed.
āTen million, 20 million, 30 ā¦ no, no, no. A billion? No. This is not about money; this is about our country,ā Lake said. āI think itās disturbing that ā¦ anybody would even think this isāā
Lake, who failed in her bid to become Arizona governor to now-Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ), seemed frustrated by DeWitās comments but continued to speak.
āThere are very powerful people who are gonna keep you out,ā DeWit said. āBut theyāre willing to put their money where their mouth is, in a big way.ā
He also said it was fine to say no but that she couldnāt tell anyone about the conversation, saying that it risked jeopardizing āour ability to get things done in the future.ā
The āpowerful peopleā wanted to keep Lake out of politics for two years, after which she could resume as usual, DeWit said.
āTheyāre gonna try to have me murdered,ā Lake said with a chuckle.
DeWit responded by saying that āthe cartelsā are active in all 50 states.
Lake doubled down the more DeWit attempted to get her to name a price, and he asked her not to tell anyone about the conversation.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Lakeās campaign and the Arizona Republican Party for comment.