- Last year Kari Lake claimed she had been offered a bribe to get out politics
- On Tuesday, DailyMail.com published audio of the meeting at her home
- A little over 24 hours later, Jeff DeWit announced he was resigning
Jeff DeWit resigned as the chair of the Arizona Republican Party Wednesday, 24 hours after DailyMail.com published leaked audio of him offering Kari Lake a plum job or money to step out of politics.
In the tape, he can be heard explaining that powerful people would offer her a job or money if she sits out of politics for two years.
In his resignation statement he accused Lake of setting him up by recording a private conversation.
‘This morning I was determined to fight for my position,’ he said. ‘However a few hours ago I received an ultimatum from Lake’s team: Resign today or face the release of a new, more damaging recording.’
He said he was resigning in the hope that it would end her attacks on him.
The episode sent shockwaves through Republican circles.
A day earlier, Lake had demanded his resignation. As she arrived at Donald Trump‘s campaign party in Nashua, New Hampshire, she told DailyMail.com that the American people had had enough.
‘The people are rising up and saying, no, we want our country back,’ she said.
‘We want our government back and we will no longer put up with one more ounce of corruption. And the truth is all coming out now.’
When asked if he should now resign, she said: ‘I believe he should.’
Lake had previously discussed the extraordinary effort to keep her out of the race, but never revealed who was behind it.
On Monday, Arizona talk show host Garret Lewis named DeWit, who was elected chairman of the party in January last year.
Audio obtained by DailyMail.com revealed how he made his offer at her home in early March last year.