Request follows report on Greek gas deals, lobbyist’s meeting role
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described her concerns in a Thursday letter to Rubio about Guilfoyle’s “inappropriate uses of an official position.” The letter specifically named her inclusion of a registered lobbyist, Christos Marafatsos, in meetings with foreign officials and her promotion of one of the lobbyist’s Greek clients and its joint venture with a Greek state-backed company. Shaheen voted to confirm Guilfoyle last year.
“Such actions do not serve U.S. credibility overseas and risk undermining U.S. diplomacy,” Shaheen wrote. She asked the State Department to outline “what steps have and will be taken to avoid undue influence and even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, outlined his “deep concern” over Guilfoyle’s conduct in a Wednesday letter to Rubio. “If these reports are accurate, Ambassador Guilfoyle is unfit to represent the United States abroad and should be removed from her position,” Meeks wrote.
The lawmakers asked the State Department for documents and responses including a full list of all meetings the lobbyist attended, information about Guilfoyle’s financial interests, and a full account of her promotion of Aktor Group. Shaheen specifically asked whether the State Department had authorized Marafatsos to participate in meetings with foreign government officials.
The request followed a Journal investigation that described Guilfoyle’s persistent promotion of Aktor across southeastern Europe and her extensive efforts to involve Marafatsos, a top lobbyist for the company, according to the article. Aktor, through a joint venture with a Greek state-backed company called DEPA, signed a 20-year deal last fall to buy U.S. liquefied natural gas from Venture Global, an American company.
The lawmakers also sought information on whether Guilfoyle’s use of private jets as ambassador — including one paid for by Aktor’s CEO — followed State Department rules. Former embassy staff told the Journal it is rare for U.S. ambassadors to fly on private aircraft, and State Department rules have long required ambassadors to obtain explicit approval before doing so. When Guilfoyle flew to Athens in November to present her credentials as ambassador, she traveled on a private jet alongside Greek-American businessman Eric Vassilatos, according to people familiar with the matter. She also accompanied Vassilatos on a private aircraft in January between Athens and Paris, the people said.
The U.S. Embassy official in Greece said Guilfoyle was in “full compliance with State Department guidance” on official travel.
A lawyer for Guilfoyle previously told the Journal that the ambassador worked with several energy companies and had not been focused on just one. A lawyer for Aktor said Thursday that “the Ambassador has been consistently promoting U.S. interests.”
The Journal also reported that in a March dinner in Athens, Guilfoyle got into a heated argument with Greece’s energy minister, Stavros Papastavrou. Referring to the impending collapse of the Romanian government, Guilfoyle said, “We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here,” the Journal reported. Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputed the characterization of the exchange.
In Greece, opposition parties have pushed the government to address the comments or summon Guilfoyle to explain them. “The foreign ministry hasn’t summoned her for an explanation. If it were another country they would have,” said Haris Tzimitras, a spokesman for the leftist opposition Syriza, in an interview with the Journal.
Pavlos Marinakis, a spokesman for the Greek government, told reporters Monday that there was “never any question of a threat” to the Greek government and that “such a thing would never be tolerated.” He did not explicitly address the comments about Romania.
The Journal reported the comments created a political firestorm in Romania, with several major political parties calling for more information about Guilfoyle’s interactions with Romanian politicians. Lawmaker Alexandru Dimitriu, whose Save Romania Union party was part of the governing coalition, filed a treason complaint against politicians who met with Guilfoyle, accusing them of colluding with a foreign power with the “aim of subjugating and economically undermining Romania.”
Guilfoyle mentioned Romania during the March dinner in Athens attended by more than a dozen people, including U.S. and Greek officials and embassy staff. Later that month, Guilfoyle arrived in Bucharest to speak at a conference, where she praised the recent agreement between Venture Global and Aktor’s joint venture with DEPA. That evening, according to a video circulated on Romanian media, Guilfoyle and Marafatsos dined with top politicians from Romania’s Social Democratic Party (PSD), including the party’s leader and energy minister. A lawyer for Marafatsos said he was at the dinner for a maximum of 15 minutes and was not part of any conversation about the Romanian government.
In May, the Romanian government collapsed following a no-confidence vote that had been initiated by the PSD and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians. The leader of the PSD said the party did not collude with the U.S. on the move. The current caretaker prime minister, Ilie Bolojan, has not held any discussions with Guilfoyle, a government spokeswoman said.