ARIZONA –Kari Lake’s nightmare Senate campaign spun up more chaos for Republicans last night. Here’s what you missed: 

• Widespread reporting indicated that Kari Lake was allegedly “offered what she viewed as a bribe by the chair of the Arizona Republican Party in an effort to keep her from running for the next two years.” The recording echoes concerns about Lake’s electability raised by national and Arizona Republicans both before and after Lake’s “less-than-welcome” entry into the Senate race.
• Lake called for the resignation of AZ GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit, after her team allegedly “threatened him with the potential release of a ‘new, more damaging recording’ unless he resigned immediately” according to the Arizona Republic.
• Following his resignation, DeWit told NBC News that  “no one believes [Lake] can get across the finish line, particularly with independents.”

Arizona Republicans have remarked that Lake’s nightmare campaign is damaging Republicans’ chances of winning in 2024. Robert Graham, AZ GOP chairman from 2013 through 2017, said “the infighting that led to DeWit’s humiliation and resignation threatens the ability of the Arizona Republican Party to do what it needs to do in 2024. This is the time when you need to have the most organized organization. But when all this happens, it’s rudderless. The ship is not pointing in any direction.”

Read more about the chaos caused by Kari Lake’s nightmare campaign this week:

• Arizona Republic: Kari Lake assails former AZ GOP boss Jeff DeWit, doesn’t say why she released ‘bribe’ recording. The event followed DeWit’s lengthy resignation letter earlier in the day and capped an extraordinary spectacle that has drawn international attention. It leaves the Arizona Republican Party in a tailspin ahead of former President Donald Trump’s visit to Phoenix on Friday and the state party’s annual meeting on Saturday.

• Capitol Media Services: Arizona GOP chair quits after Kari Lake leaks audio of him pressuring her. But DeWit’s lengthy resignation statement and explanation raised ethical issues for Lake as well. He said secretly recording a political strategy discussion crosses ethical lines and will make it hard for Lake to have frank discussions with people like Trump and sitting U.S. senators […] As a candidate for Senate, Lake is already on thin ice with national party leaders because she failed to moderate […]“She’s still practicing the addition by subtraction equation,’’ he said, saying she’s offending party members who do not agree with her rather than reaching out to build a base of support. Coughlin said that “is what led to her original defeat and will lead to her defeat in the ‘24 cycle.’’

• Arizona Mirror: AZGOP Chairman Jeff DeWit resigns after Kari Lake leaked a tape of him trying to ‘bribe’ her. Robert Graham, who was chairman of the AZGOP from 2013 through 2017, said he was shocked that Lake both recorded her conversation with DeWit and then made it public. He said that it would damage her ability to work with people going forward, especially if she wins her election and becomes a senator. “If people do it once, they’ll do it 100 times. They have no boundaries,” he said. 

• Arizona Mirror: […Kari Lake] the Republican and former local television personality spent a significant portion of her livestream denigrating the Arizona media — repeatedly calling one journalist a “cat lady” — and railing against unnamed corrupt politicians. She also repeatedly asked listeners to donate to her campaign and buy her book.

• NBC: Arizona GOP chair resigns after Kari Lake bribery allegation, says she threatened him. DeWit declined to reveal the identity of the “very powerful people” to NBC News on Wednesday but said the offer “had everything to do with her being a drag on the ticket. There are people who want to make sure we win the election and that’s it. No one believes she can get across the finish line, particularly with independents.”

• KJZZ: After seeming to bribe Senate hopeful Kari Lake not to run, Arizona GOP Chair resigns. In the audio recording, “DeWit raised concerns about Lake’s ability to fundraise enough money to win the U.S. Senate race, as well as former President Donald Trump’s ability to win another election – and by association, Lake’s own electability.”