Kimberly Guilfoyle Resigns as U.S. Ambassador to Greece
The Wall Street Journal reports:
BLUF: White House requests her resignation after The Wall Street Journal reported that she had solicited $100,000 from Trump donor.
By Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, Vera Bergengruen and Josh Dawsey
“Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned as U.S. ambassador to Greece, after the White House asked her to step down following reporting from The Wall Street Journal that she had solicited $100,000 from a Trump donor in the run-up to her confirmation hearing last year.
Guilfoyle said in a post on X that serving as ambassador “has been the honor of a lifetime.” She also pushed back on the recent allegations against her. “These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation and my integrity,” she wrote.
““While my time as Ambassador may be coming to an end, my commitment to President Trump, the America First movement, and the country I love will never end,” she added.
Guilfoyle’s social-media post came shortly after White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said the White House had asked for her resignation.
“When asked about Guilfoyle on Tuesday, President Trump told reporters that he didn’t like what he had read about her and hadn’t spoken with her. “She wasn’t a member of my family. She, I guess, dated my son a long time ago,” Trump said. Guilfoyle was previously engaged to Donald Trump Jr.
“She went to Greece, she was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading,” Trump said.
The Journal reported last week that Guilfoyle had sought a $100,000 payment to her American Express account days before her confirmation hearing. While soliciting the payment from Eric Deters, a Trump donor and former congressional candidate, Guilfoyle had touted her connections to the Trump administration and sought to lobby the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department on his behalf, according to text messages viewed by the Journal.
She promised to be his “Trump ride or die, forever and ever” if Deters came up with the Amex money. He didn’t ultimately make the payment, telling her it would cost him his marriage.
Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputed the authenticity of the messages but declined to provide specifics, and said the ambassador was “owed a balance” for events she had attended before “her nomination. Deters said he didn’t owe her any balance.
The Journal in September reported that Guilfoyle had puzzled government officials across southeastern Europe with her persistent promotion of a Greek company, and her extensive efforts to include one of its lobbyists, Christos Marafatsos. Marafatsos had been attending meetings at the ambassador’s residence and with foreign officials, and some officials mistook him for her chief of staff.
“The series of revelations had frustrated administration officials in Washington, many of whom were already wary about Guilfoyle’s tenure as ambassador. Since arriving in Athens last fall, she interspersed meetings with regional leaders with visits to European fashion shows and art galas. Her stylist, Fancy James, often accompanied her on trips, joining her for a dinner with Greek and Bulgarian officials in Washington earlier this year.
The State Department’s inspector general is investigating whether Guilfoyle received gifts or favors from private businessmen, the Journal previously reported.
Rep. Don Beyer (D., Va.) called for Guilfoyle to be fired and “if she broke the law, which seems highly likely, prosecuted.” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, in a letter to Guilfoyle said the reported conduct “raises serious public corruption and national security concerns” and requested she provide financial records and copies of her communications with certain government officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubiowas in Athens when the Journal reported that Guilfoyle had sought the $100,000 payment. His aides said they were blindsided and frustrated—just days earlier, Rubio had defended her as an “incredibly effective advocate” for Trump’s agenda and emphasized they “greatly valued” her. While in Athens he defended her, at a press conference: “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador.”
Guilfoyle, who posted multiple pictures on social media of her embracing Rubio on the tarmac upon his arrival, was at his side for more than half a dozen events.
As Rubio departed Athens last week, he declined to comment on the messages. “We don’t conduct these things in a press conference on a tarmac in a foreign country because you wrote a story or somebody else wrote a story because the source gave it to you,” he told reporters. Guilfoyle was on the tarmac to see him off.
“When asked earlier this month to respond to the notion of a U.S. ambassador trying to exchange access for money, Vice President JD Vance said, “I don’t like anybody selling access to another government official, certainly a high-level government official.” But he said he needed more information before weighing in on the specific case.
As ambassador, Guilfoyle’s chief focus was an effort to help Europe wean itself from Russian energy via a “vertical gas corridor” meant to receive U.S. liquefied natural gas in Greece and pipe it toward Ukraine. The initiative, which began under the Obama administration, had strong backing from the Trump administration.
But Guilfoyle drew scrutiny over her efforts to promote one Greek company in particular: a construction company called Aktor Group that through a joint venture with a Greek state-backed gas company had signed a 20-year deal to buy U.S. LNG.
A lawyer for Guilfoyle previously said she wasn’t focused on any one company. Lawyers for Aktor said Guilfoyle wasn’t improperly promoting Aktor’s commercial interests.”
Excerpt From
“Kimberly Guilfoyle resigns as U.S. ambassador to Greece”
Drew Hinshaw, Josh Dawsey, Rebecca Ballhaus, Vera Bergengruen
The Wall Street Journal
https://apple.news/An3rWmrzhTbmv2091aFp5CQ
This material may be protected by copyright.
My comments:
Good! Like all of Demented Donnie’s appointees, she was obviously unfit and incompetent. It’s long passed time to clean house of ALL of them!
BLUF: White House requests her resignation after The Wall Street Journal reported that she had solicited $100,000 from Trump donor.
By Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, Vera Bergengruen and Josh Dawsey
“Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned as U.S. ambassador to Greece, after the White House asked her to step down following reporting from The Wall Street Journal that she had solicited $100,000 from a Trump donor in the run-up to her confirmation hearing last year.
Guilfoyle said in a post on X that serving as ambassador “has been the honor of a lifetime.” She also pushed back on the recent allegations against her. “These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation and my integrity,” she wrote.
““While my time as Ambassador may be coming to an end, my commitment to President Trump, the America First movement, and the country I love will never end,” she added.
Guilfoyle’s social-media post came shortly after White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said the White House had asked for her resignation.
“When asked about Guilfoyle on Tuesday, President Trump told reporters that he didn’t like what he had read about her and hadn’t spoken with her. “She wasn’t a member of my family. She, I guess, dated my son a long time ago,” Trump said. Guilfoyle was previously engaged to Donald Trump Jr.
“She went to Greece, she was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading,” Trump said.
The Journal reported last week that Guilfoyle had sought a $100,000 payment to her American Express account days before her confirmation hearing. While soliciting the payment from Eric Deters, a Trump donor and former congressional candidate, Guilfoyle had touted her connections to the Trump administration and sought to lobby the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department on his behalf, according to text messages viewed by the Journal.
She promised to be his “Trump ride or die, forever and ever” if Deters came up with the Amex money. He didn’t ultimately make the payment, telling her it would cost him his marriage.
Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputed the authenticity of the messages but declined to provide specifics, and said the ambassador was “owed a balance” for events she had attended before “her nomination. Deters said he didn’t owe her any balance.
The Journal in September reported that Guilfoyle had puzzled government officials across southeastern Europe with her persistent promotion of a Greek company, and her extensive efforts to include one of its lobbyists, Christos Marafatsos. Marafatsos had been attending meetings at the ambassador’s residence and with foreign officials, and some officials mistook him for her chief of staff.
“The series of revelations had frustrated administration officials in Washington, many of whom were already wary about Guilfoyle’s tenure as ambassador. Since arriving in Athens last fall, she interspersed meetings with regional leaders with visits to European fashion shows and art galas. Her stylist, Fancy James, often accompanied her on trips, joining her for a dinner with Greek and Bulgarian officials in Washington earlier this year.
The State Department’s inspector general is investigating whether Guilfoyle received gifts or favors from private businessmen, the Journal previously reported.
Rep. Don Beyer (D., Va.) called for Guilfoyle to be fired and “if she broke the law, which seems highly likely, prosecuted.” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, in a letter to Guilfoyle said the reported conduct “raises serious public corruption and national security concerns” and requested she provide financial records and copies of her communications with certain government officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubiowas in Athens when the Journal reported that Guilfoyle had sought the $100,000 payment. His aides said they were blindsided and frustrated—just days earlier, Rubio had defended her as an “incredibly effective advocate” for Trump’s agenda and emphasized they “greatly valued” her. While in Athens he defended her, at a press conference: “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador.”
Guilfoyle, who posted multiple pictures on social media of her embracing Rubio on the tarmac upon his arrival, was at his side for more than half a dozen events.
As Rubio departed Athens last week, he declined to comment on the messages. “We don’t conduct these things in a press conference on a tarmac in a foreign country because you wrote a story or somebody else wrote a story because the source gave it to you,” he told reporters. Guilfoyle was on the tarmac to see him off.
“When asked earlier this month to respond to the notion of a U.S. ambassador trying to exchange access for money, Vice President JD Vance said, “I don’t like anybody selling access to another government official, certainly a high-level government official.” But he said he needed more information before weighing in on the specific case.
As ambassador, Guilfoyle’s chief focus was an effort to help Europe wean itself from Russian energy via a “vertical gas corridor” meant to receive U.S. liquefied natural gas in Greece and pipe it toward Ukraine. The initiative, which began under the Obama administration, had strong backing from the Trump administration.
But Guilfoyle drew scrutiny over her efforts to promote one Greek company in particular: a construction company called Aktor Group that through a joint venture with a Greek state-backed gas company had signed a 20-year deal to buy U.S. LNG.
A lawyer for Guilfoyle previously said she wasn’t focused on any one company. Lawyers for Aktor said Guilfoyle wasn’t improperly promoting Aktor’s commercial interests.”
Excerpt From
“Kimberly Guilfoyle resigns as U.S. ambassador to Greece”
Drew Hinshaw, Josh Dawsey, Rebecca Ballhaus, Vera Bergengruen
The Wall Street Journal
https://apple.news/An3rWmrzhTbmv2091aFp5CQ
This material may be protected by copyright.
My comments:
Good! Like all of Demented Donnie’s appointees, she was obviously unfit and incompetent. It’s long passed time to clean house of ALL of them!
