Kimberly Guilfoyle confirmed Tuesday that she has resigned from her position as U.S. ambassador to Greece.
The announcement comes after several media reports that Guilfoyle had engagd in improper conduct, including allegations she had asked a donor to help pay her credit card bill.
“These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity,” Guilfoyle wrote in a lengthy post on X in which she said she will forever be grateful to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for entrusting her with the role. “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.”
Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said the Trump administration had asked Guilfoyle to resign.
Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Trump said of Guilfoyle, “She was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading.”
In a series of stories dating back to late last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on questionable conduct by Guilfoyle, including allegedly threatening 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 American Express credit card bill.
In a statement released late Sunday, Guilfoyle’s lawyers denied she had done anything wrong and claimed that the money she was seeking from the Trump donor was payment for public appearances and speaking engagements that predate her ambassadorial nomination and that they had not been paid.
The lawyers, David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, 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,” they said.
Last week, while visiting Athens, Rubio said, “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”
During his visit, The Wall Street 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 then 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.
Guilfoyle is a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and was engaged to Trump’s son Donald Jr.
Last week, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Rubio to express his concern about Guilfoyle’s conduct, saying she is unfit to represent the United States and should be removed from her position.
Over the weekend, Meeks called on the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General to immediately investigate Guilfoyle’s conduct as potential violations of federal law, State Department regulations and ethics requirements, including abuse of authority and conflicts of interest.
“Together, these reports paint a disturbing picture of an ambassador using her official position and access to senior political appointees to advance the private interests of those willing to pay,” Meeks said in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: spectrumlocalnews.com
