The chairman of the Arizona Republican Party resigns after Tape suggests an attempted bribery of Kari Lake

The chairman of Arizona's Republican Party abruptly resigned Wednesday, a day after the release of a 10-minute recording of a conversation between himself and Kari Lake, a former candidate for governor, in which he appeared to offer a bribe to help Ms. Lake to convince. to drop her 2024 Senate campaign.

In the recording, which was published by The Daily Mail, Jeff DeWit, the chairman, tells Ms. Lake that there are “very powerful people who want to keep you out of the race,” and suggests he is passing on a message from them. He says he was told to ask her, “Are there any companies or something that can just put her on the payroll and give her – to keep her out?”

Later in the conversation, where Mr. DeWit repeatedly urges Ms. Lake not to repeat it to anyone, he begins asking, “Is there a number where —” before Ms. Lake interrupts and says, “I can be bribed?” He replies, “Don't be bought,” but instead wait a few years before running away.

Ms. Lake dismissed the efforts and repeatedly told Mr. DeWit that she was offended by the approach. “That's immoral: I couldn't look at myself in the mirror,” she says, according to the recording.

The recording ends with another request from Mr. DeWit: “I really just wish you would make me a big counteroffer,” he says. She replies, “I cannot be bought.”

Ms. Lake, a close ally of former President Donald J. Trump, ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, fervently embracing his false claims about the 2020 election. Arizona voters instead chose her opponent, Katie Hobbs, handing control of the governor's mansion to a Democrat in a key battleground state.

On Wednesday, Mr. DeWit accused Ms. Lake of releasing a “selectively edited” recording of the conversation, which he said took place in person at Ms. Lake's home more than 10 months ago. He indicated that he had not realized that he was being recorded in the conversation.

“Contrary to the bribery allegations, my conversations were transparent and intended to provide perspective, not coercion,” he said in a statement, although he also acknowledged that he “said things I regret.” Mr. DeWit said he suspected that Ms. Lake had prepared for the situation and had “conceived her performances” during the conversation with the intention of releasing the recording later.

He also said Ms. Lake pressured him to resign on Wednesday and threatened to release a second recording if he did not.

“I have been given an ultimatum by Lake's team: resign today or a new, more damaging recording will be released,” Mr. DeWit wrote in the statement. “I'm really not sure of its contents, but given our numerous open conversations in the past as friends, I've decided not to take the risk. I am resigning as Lake requested, in the hope that she will make good on her promise to cease her attacks so that I can return to business – a field that I find much more logical and prefer to politics.”

Ms. Lake's team then pushed back.

“No one from the Kari Lake campaign threatened or blackmailed DeWit,” Garrett Ventry and Caroline Wren, senior advisers to Ms. Lake, said in a statement, adding that the tape showed Mr. DeWit “attempted to bribe Kari Lake ,” but “Fortunately, Kari is a highly ethical person who has rejected DeWit's multiple attempts to offer her money and board seats in exchange for Kari not running for public office.”

Mr. DeWit declined to comment further.