by Harold Hutchison
Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake of Arizona alleged Saturday that she was offered a bribe to stay out of politics for two years.
“Something happened to me this week before I left for CPAC and it shows how desperate these people are to stop me,” Lake said during the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“Somebody showed up at my door this week,” Lake continued. “They called me before and said: I gotta talk to you in person, this can’t be done over the phone … They came to my door and they tried to bribe me out of getting out of politics. This really happened. I’m telling you this because this is how disgusting politics is. A mom who runs for office and they’re afraid of me? They tried to bribe me with a job title, with a huge salary, a position on a board.”
Lake narrowly lost the Arizona gubernatorial election to Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, refusing to concede and filing legal challenges. The election was marred by tabulation machine malfunctions in at least 20% of the voting centers, prompting an apology from local officials and a Republican lawsuit to extend voting hours that was dismissed by a Maricopa County judge.
Lake lost an initial court case contesting the election, but a judge rejected a request from Hobbs to impose sanctions.
Lake is reportedly considering a run for the Senate seat held by Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party on Jan. 23, in 2024. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego announced his candidacy for the seat on Jan. 23.
Lake said she rejected the offer to sit out, and said she was asked to name her price “to get out of politics for two years.” She then said she told the person to “let your handlers back east know that I can’t name a price, because there is no price that I would sell out my country for.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Lake said.
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Harold Hutchison is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Image “Kari Lake” by CPAC.
