Arizona's top Republican Party official pushed Kari Lake, a loyal supporter of former President Donald Trump, into not running for a U.S. Senate seat, DailyMail.com reported.
DailyMail.com obtained an audio recording of a supposed conversation between Lake, who's running for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Jeff DeWit, chair of the Arizona Republican Party.
On the recording, DeWit, 51, whose identity was confirmed by two sources, is heard asking Lake to name her price to stay out of politics for two years.
"There are very powerful people who want to keep you out," DeWit tells Lake in a conversation recorded in March, DailyMail.com reported. At the time, Lake was considering entering the Senate race.
DeWit tells Lake that he thinks Trump will lose in the 2024 presidential election and it's time to make way for someone else. He then asks Lake not to mention the conversation to anyone.
"So the ask I got today from back east was: 'Is there any companies out there or something that could just put her on the payroll to keep her out?'" DeWit says to Lake, DailyMail.com reported.
An irritated Lake responds: "This is about defeating Trump and I think that's a bad, bad thing for our country."
DeWit, chief operating officer on Trump's 2020 campaign in Arizona, then tries a different approach.
"Just say, is there a number at which ...." he says, DailyMail.com reported.
"I can be bought?" Lake answers. "That's what it's about."
"You can take a pause for a couple of years," DeWit says. "You can go right back to what you're doing."
Lake tells DeWit she wouldn't do it for a billion dollars.
"This is not about money, it's about our country," she says.
Newsmax reached out to DeWit's office for comment.
After the DailyMail.com story broke Tuesday, Lake called for DeWit's resignation as state GOP chair. And indeed, it was reported Wednesday afternoon that he had resigned. Associated Press reported his resignation.
As noted in the AP report, his exit roils the GOP in a battleground state considered key in the November contests over control of the Senate and House.