Kimberly Guilfoyle Ran a Pay-to-Play Shakedown Out of the Athens Embassy

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. Ambassador to Greece, is accused of asking a Trump donor to wire $100,000 to cover her personal credit card bill right before her confirmation hearing, and dangling access to administration officials as the payoff. [S1] The State Department's own inspector general is now looking into her conduct. [S1]

The Case Against Kimberly Guilfoyle

Guilfoyle was appointed as envoy to Athens in December 2024, a month before Trump returned to the White House as president. [S2] Text messages seen by the BBC and first reported by The Wall Street Journal show her asking a Trump donor and supporter to pay a $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did. [S1] That donor has a name. He appears to show Guilfoyle asking for money from Eric Deters, a long-time Trump ally. [S2]

The Journal's reporting documents an alleged threat to a host country official, accepting improper gifts and services and offering to use her influence inside the administration in return for the payment of a large credit card bill. [S1] Its first report said she told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings. [S1]

There's more. The Journal reported she was enraged about not being invited to a Greek-themed event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, demanded to attend, and boasted about luxury travel to France with energy company executives. [S1] The Daily Mail separately reported she had alienated staff at the U.S. Embassy in Athens and pushed the bounds of behavior appropriate for the top representative of the U.S. government to Greece. [S1]

The State Department's inspector general is looking into the allegations, which first began surfacing in the Journal late last month and have since multiplied. [S1] According to Fox News, the IG's office opened an investigation into Guilfoyle's treatment of embassy employees, her private travel, her acceptance of gifts and her relationships with business interests. [S2]

PUBLIC OPINION

A senior U.S. official told the AP that Trump and Rubio are "extremely pissed off" by Guilfoyle's reported conduct. [S1] Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso called the reports "troubling" and said "I would assume the State Department would be conducting that," referring to an investigation. [S2] Rep. Gregory Meeks, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Robert Garcia have called for an investigation into Guilfoyle. [S1] Trump himself, asked if he was considering firing her, said, "Well, we're looking at it. Yeah, we're not happy." [S2]

Rubio's position moved. He defended her once, saying "Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here." [S1] Then, after another report landed, he berated the journalists asking about it: "You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it's the gospel. It's not the gospel for me. That's not the way we do things." [S1] That's not a defense of Guilfoyle. That's a man trying very hard not to confirm something he already suspects is true.

BULLSHIT DEFENSE

Guilfoyle's lawyers, David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, say the $100,000 wasn't a shakedown, it was a bill. They claimed the money she was seeking from the Trump donor was payment for services, public appearances and speaking engagements that predate her ambassadorial nomination, that had not been paid. [S1] Their statement put it bluntly: "Asking a client to pay for work already done is not corruption. It is the opposite of corruption." [S2] They also said Ambassador Guilfoyle "has served, and will continue to serve, with integrity, honor and distinction." [S1]

Fine. Maybe Eric Deters really did owe her for old gigs, and the lawyers put the figure at about $150,000. [S2] That still doesn't explain why she was chasing the payment days before her confirmation hearing while dangling access to officials as the incentive, [S1] or why she told him, in writing, exactly how to wire it so it "won't show up anywhere." [S2] People collecting a legitimate debt send an invoice. They don't send a laundering tip.

Guilfoyle has not addressed the reports directly herself. Her lawyers have spoken for her, and that's what's in the record so far. [S1]

An ambassador represents the United States. She is not supposed to run a toll booth on access to it. If the texts are what the BBC and the Journal say they are, Guilfoyle wasn't doing diplomacy in Athens. She was doing business.

P.S. Rubio visited Athens while all this was swirling, and Guilfoyle greeted him on arrival with a bear hug. [S1] Watch how fast that hug turns into a pink slip.