Kari Lake's finances: She got six-figure pay from company once led by former ex-GOP chair

U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake was paid more than $100,000 for up to 15 months of service with the company once headed by the man she helped depose last week as chair of the Arizona Republican Party.

Lake received the money as an adviser to Superfeed Technologies, which designs apps for campaigns and was formerly headed by Jeff DeWit, who was until last week the head of the state GOP.

It is part of the personal financial records Lake filed Tuesday that offer a view into the financial support network for her since she quit her job as a Phoenix TV newscaster and ran for governor and, now, the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

Lake’s financial records show her position with Superfeed began in April 2021, a month after she quit her longtime job as a newscaster with Fox 10, and ended in March. That’s about the same period that DeWit told her in a meeting she recorded there were “very powerful people who want to keep you out” of the Senate race.

DeWit’s online resume has said his position as CEO of Superfeed ended in January 2023, weeks before he took over as Arizona Republican Party chair.

The records show Lake received $102,000 in wages from Superfeed in a period that could span 2022, when she ran for governor, through March 2023, when she said she cut ties to the company.

That’s far more than the $1,000 or more Lake reported for the company in her 2022 financial disclosure as part of her gubernatorial run. In that report, Lake said she was a communication adviser for FeedMe Inc. in 2021 and 2022. The company became known as Superfeed before Lake reported working with it in her 2022 financial disclosure for her gubernatorial run.

The amount disclosed is all that Arizona required. The federal disclosures include more income ranges.

In addition to her Superfeed income, Lake received $100,000 for her book with Winning Team Publishing, a company that caters to conservatives and was cofounded by Donald Trump Jr. She collected $75,000 in speaking fees between March and September, just weeks before she kicked off her long-expected Senate campaign.

Overall, Lake reported assets worth between $2 million and $4.5 million. She listed no debts.

DeWit quit his post with the state GOP last week a day after a recording of his conversation with Lake was published. In his resignation letter, DeWit said “Lake’s team” had threatened him into quitting.

“I received an ultimatum from Lake’s team: resign today or face the release of a new, more damaging recording,” he said without offering proof of the allegation. “I am truly unsure of its contents, but considering our numerous past open conversations as friends, I have decided not to take the risk.”

Lake’s campaign denied pressuring him to quit.

“No one on the Lake campaign blackmailed Mr. DeWit. He attempted to bribe Kari Lake, as the tape reveals clearly. Thankfully, she’s an ethical person and rebuffed his many attempts at bribing her,” the campaign said last week in a written statement.

Lake has had a close relationship with Superfeed for years.

Company records with the Arizona Corporation Commission show its Phoenix address is the same as ZenVideo LLC and Awake Media LLC.

ZenVideo is a video production company owned by Lake’s husband. Lake formed Awake Media in March using her husband’s surname.

In 2022, Superfeed made an app that provided details of events for Lake’s gubernatorial campaign, but the company wasn’t paid for its services, according to a 2022 account by the Daily Beast.

Superfeed provided a similar app for state Rep. Austin Smith, R-Wittmann, the Daily Beast reported. Smith’s profile with LinkedIn identifies him as a senior director with Turning Point Action, the political arm of the Phoenix-based Turning Point USA.

Both entities of Turning Point also had apps with Superfeed at the time, according to the Daily Beast, though the organizations are not listed in Apple’s app store at the moment.

The Arizona Republican Party’s app is made by Superfeed.

Lake collected speech payments for speaking to: the McKinney Values PAC, a conservative organization in Texas; Turning Point Action; NE Tarrant Tea Party in Texas; Revive California; American Upheld California; Idaho GOP; and Israel Heritage Foundation in New York.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake news: She got hefty pay as adviser to firm led by Jeff DeWit