By Eric Bradner | CNN
The chairman of the Arizona Republican Party said Wednesday he is resigning, claiming he was doing so amid pressure from GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake.
Jeff DeWit’s resignation comes after The Daily Mail published an audio recording of a conversation between DeWit and Lake in which he explained to her that there were financial benefits to staying out of the state’s 2024 Senate race. DeWit said Lake threatened to release a “more damaging” audio recording if he did not resign Wednesday.
Lake senior advisers Caroline Wren and Garrett Ventry described DeWit as making “false claims.”
“No one from the Kari Lake campaign threatened or blackmailed DeWit,” Wren and Ventry said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that Dewit hasn’t recognized how unethical his behavior was and still hasn’t apologized to Arizona Republicans.”
DeWit, a former Trump campaign chief operating officer and NASA chief financial officer, said that the conversation had taken place in Lake’s home 10 months ago, while she was an employee of his private business.
In a statement posted Wednesday by the Arizona Republican Party on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, DeWit said he believes he “was set up” in a bid by Lake “to have control over the state party.”
“This morning, I was determined to fight for my position. 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. I am truly unsure of its contents, but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk. I am resigning as Lake requested, in the hope that she will honor her commitment to cease her attacks, allowing me to return to the business sector — a field I find much more logical and prefer over politics,” DeWit said in the statement.
In the audio recording published Tuesday, DeWit says he was asked by “very powerful…
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