Greek opposition called Guilfoyle affair 'national dignity' in parliament

WSJ reported she allegedly threatened Greek official, accepted improper gifts

Ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, Greek opposition parties had called on the Foreign Ministry to summon U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle to respond to the allegations made against her. “This, most importantly, is an issue of national dignity,” Sia Anagnostopoulou, a former deputy foreign minister, said in parliament Friday. Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis responded that Guilfoyle had been treated “the same way as every other ambassador” and argued that an official summons had not been necessary. There was no immediate response to Zacharia’s statement from the Greek government or Cabinet members.

The resignation request followed a series of Wall Street Journal reports dating to late September. The Journal’s first report said she told guests at a reception that the United States 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. While Rubio was in Athens, the Journal reported — citing text messages — that Guilfoyle had asked 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. The Journal also reported that Guilfoyle had been enraged about not being invited to a Greek-themed event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year and demanded to attend while boasting about luxury travel to France with energy company executives. Another report, from the British tabloid The Daily Mail, said Guilfoyle had alienated staff at the U.S. Embassy in Athens and had pushed the bounds of behavior appropriate for the top representative of the U.S. government to Greece.

The resignation request was disclosed at the morning briefing by newly installed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia at her first media briefing. “She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well,” Zacharia said. Guilfoyle announced within two hours that she was quitting, ending days of talk and speculation about her professional fate. The possibility of her resignation had been previewed to The Associated Press over the weekend, with the AP citing a senior U.S. official in reporting that Trump and Rubio were “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct. Trump registered his unhappiness on Monday at reports about her alleged conduct.

President Donald Trump, speaking shortly after Guilfoyle’s resignation was posted on her X account, said he had not spoken with her but that “she will not be there.” “She went to Greece. She was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading,” Trump said.

Rubio’s posture toward the allegations shifted over the period the reports accumulated. After initially defending Guilfoyle following the first report, Rubio declined to comment publicly as additional stories appeared. Last week, Rubio said: “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.” But after another report appeared later, Rubio — speaking Thursday before leaving Athens — berated journalists for asking about the allegations, saying he did not know if they were true and that he would not respond if he could not confirm them. “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. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things,” Rubio said at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was present to see him depart, looked on.

A second U.S. official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said the State Department’s inspector general was looking into the allegations, which first began surfacing in the Journal late last month and have since multiplied. The second official could not say if a formal IG probe had begun. Inspectors general often conduct informal inquiries into complaints against staffers, and many times those inquiries do not result in a full-on investigation, which can result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. The State Department has declined to comment on a potential IG investigation.

In her resignation post on X, Guilfoyle addressed the accusations directly. “These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity,” she said. “I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, and defending the values that make America exceptional. I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service.”

In a statement released late Sunday, her lawyers, David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, denied that she had done anything wrong and claimed that the money she was seeking from a Trump donor was payment for services — public appearances and speaking engagements that predate her ambassadorial nomination — that had not been paid. The lawyers also rejected allegations of impropriety related to Guilfoyle’s travel on private planes, saying that before every such trip she “sought, obtained and followed State Department guidance and followed the Department’s travel regulations.” Schwartz and Binnall did not immediately return calls Tuesday.

On Capitol Hill, the top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees — Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire — as well as Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the ranking member on the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform, have called for an investigation into Guilfoyle.

Hours before the announcement, Guilfoyle had posted photos of her meeting this week with the Spanish ambassador to Athens, as well as birthday wishes for Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, accompanied by Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” from the 2023 soundtrack of the movie “Barbie.”

Greece has taken on an increasingly important and influential role because of its geographic location in Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly on energy issues as the war with Iran has spiked global oil prices. Besides the vast number of Greek-registered oil tankers that regularly ply the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, Greece is well positioned to be a pipeline conduit for liquefied natural gas imports into the Balkans and beyond. As U.S. ambassador, Guilfoyle had put an emphasis on energy issues, although her close association with executives in that sector was part of what got her into trouble.

Guilfoyle is a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was married to Democrat Gavin Newsom when he was San Francisco’s mayor, before he became California’s governor. She later was engaged to Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.