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New evidence shows Kari Lake's takedown of Arizona GOP boss was orchestrated
Opinion: Forget political intrigue. If the MAGA plot to take over Arizona's Republican Party succeeds, a guy who regulates APS will be the chief fundraiser for the mostly broke GOP. Conflict, much?
Laurie RobertsOn Jan. 23, Team Kari Lake leaked her now-infamous 10-month-old tape of state GOP Chairman Jeff DeWit’s clumsy attempt at bribery.
The secretly recorded, heavily edited tape that — depending upon your interpretation of the parts of the Feb. 28 conversation we can hear — amounts to either outrageous skullduggery or a state party leader simply trying to get a losing candidate to step aside so Republicans can begin winning again.
On Jan. 24, DeWit resigned, saying Lake, who is running for U.S. Senate, set him up to get control of the Arizona Republican Party.
Now comes the interesting part.
Was O'Connor 'asked' to lead AZ GOP?
On Jan. 8, Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Jim O’Connor — the “ultra grassroots” candidate hoping to replace DeWit — received a legal opinion from the commission’s attorney, which begins thusly:
“It is my understanding that you have been asked to serve as the Chair of the Republican Party,” Wesley Van Cleve wrote on Jan. 8.
ABC 15’s Garrett Archer snagged the letter, which rates as a bona-fide bombshell. A source at the Corporation Commission confirmed to me that the letter was written.
It suggests that DeWit’s undoing was orchestrated sometime before Jan. 8, though by whom is unclear. And for whom. Lake late Friday endorsed -- after former President Donald Trump endorsed -- another candidate in the election denial camp, Gina Swoboda, who was Trump's election day director in Arizona in 2020.
But given that Lake’s recording of her now-former friend was a secret until Tuesday, isn’t it interesting that a fellow election denier, O’Connor, was seeking legal advice roughly a month ago about whether he could serve both as Corporation Commission chairman and chairman of the state Republican Party? This, when the party chairman wasn't up for grabs until January 2025.
Van Cleve’s opinion is that he can, that there are no legal or ethical roadblocks.
APS may do cartwheels, if he succeeds
APS must be doing cartwheels.
Consider the dots and how they line up:
- The Republican Party is in a fundraising funk. Once the rent is paid, I figure there’s probably just about enough left in the bank to buy the fixins’ for a ham sandwich.
- APS is a heavyweight in political circles, tossing sizable contributions to both Democrats and Republicans (but mostly Republicans) and wielding a considerable amount of influence in return.
- The Corporation Commission that O’Connor chairs regulates utilities and soon will decide whether APS customers should be hit with an average of an 11% increase in their monthly utility bills.
- Can you imagine the money that’ll flow to the once-Grand Old Party if O’Connor’s commission delivers that 11% rate hike?
That seems like the definition of a swamp to me ... or perhaps a slightly stinky lake.
Unless one views betrayal and blackmail — not to mention waiting 10 months for just the right time to politically destroy someone — as somehow patriotic.
Lake has said she didn’t release the tape, that no blackmail was involved and that she had a moral obligation to expose corruption, though I haven’t heard her explain why it took her nearly 11 months to do so.
Lake waited months to destroy DeWit
Lake and DeWit had been friends but at some point, the friendship crashed.
DeWit, as the new Republican chairman, was trying to chart a center course to bring moderates back into the fold so that Republicans could return to winning elections.
Lake, meanwhile, was furious with DeWit for not screaming to the heavens about how she was robbed during her second unsuccessful trial challenging her election loss. More specifically, about his conspicuous silence while Lake and her most loyal allies were busy selling their spin to try to at least win in the court of public opinion.
She even confronted him about it in May in a Chandler restaurant.
Fast forward to now and suddenly the “bribe” tape is leaked to a conservative London tabloid, just a day after DeWit’s name was leaked to a conservative talk radio host in Phoenix.
Lake and DeWit:Put Arizona GOP in self-destruct mode
Who but Lake, or one of her surrogates, would have known about her secret cache of recordings? And who but Lake, or one of her surrogates, could have made an edited recording of her Feb. 28 conversation with DeWit public?
Just in time for Saturday’s annual state GOP meeting.
Just as the MAGA crowd has been plotting to oust DeWit.
O'Connor is part of the far-right's slate
Enter Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Jim O’Connor.
Last year, he attended one of MyPillow Mike Lindell's conspiracy meetups in Missouri. He came back wanting the Corporation Commission to investigate the state’s “voting machines” in hopes of returning to counting votes “the old-fashioned way.”
His request was denied on account of it’s not the job of utility regulators to investigate debunked election conspiracy theories.
Now, in addition to chairing the commission, O’Connor wants to replace DeWit as state GOP chairman on the far right’s “ultra grassroots” slate.
“He’s a radical to the hilt,” one state committee member told me. “It’s now apparent that this has been an orchestrated plan to take over both MCRC (Maricopa County Republican Committee) and the GOP. God help us.”
The party official told me of a friend who got a call earlier this week, advising her to stop criticizing Lake “or they’d ruin her business.”
“Drain the swamp?" the party official told me. "I’d call it a radical Hitler approach. ‘Think like we do or we’ll ruin you!’ ”
What to watch for now
Think like we do? That betrayal and blackmail — not to mention waiting more than 10 months for just the right time to politically destroy a friend — are patriotic?
Me? I’ll be watching to see how much APS donates to Republicans, if O’Connor prevails.
And watching my APS bill, of course.
Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.
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