Kimberly Guilfoyle, U.S. Ambassador to Greece, is under investigation by the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General due to allegations that she demanded $100,000 from a legal consultant, Eric Deters, to pay her American Express bill in exchange for access to senior administration officials. Deters provided NBC News with text messages he claims show Guilfoyle instructing him on how to transfer the money. The investigation is described as unusual since the watchdog typically handles routine embassy inspections rather than ethics inquiries.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In July 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. Ambassador to Greece and former Trump supporter, allegedly asked a donor named Eric Deters for $100,000 to pay off her American Express bill just before her Senate confirmation hearing. Guilfoyle reportedly offered access to top Trump administration officials in exchange for this payment. Despite repeated requests from Guilfoyle, Deters declined the offer after considering it unethical and potentially illegal.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when questioned about these allegations during a visit to Greece, refused to comment on them, stating that media reports are not gospel truth. Similarly, Vice President JD Vance was asked about the situation at an event focused on eliminating fraud but did not provide any direct response. As a result, concerns over Guilfoyle’s conduct have grown, with top Democrats in both the House and Senate foreign affairs committees calling for an investigation into her actions as ambassador.
Written for “Guilfoyle Allegations Scandal” on 2026-10-10,
grounded in this article and the 12 other(s) covering the same event.
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle and the embassy she leads are under investigation by the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General, two people familiar with the decision confirmed to NBC News.
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people → lead → News
The government watchdog’s probe comes as legal consultant and longtime Donald Trump supporter and donor Eric Deters has accused Guilfoyle of asking him to pay her outstanding $100,000 American Express bill in the days before her 2025 confirmation hearing in exchange for access to senior administration officials.
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Deters → come → officials
It was a quid pro quo,” Deters told NBC News in an interview Thursday.
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Deters → tell → interview
“She said I could ask her for anything and everything in Trump world.
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I → say → world
There was no request too big,” he said of Guilfoyle, a former Fox News personality, Trump campaign surrogate and ex-fiancee of Donald Trump Jr.
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he → be → Jr.
Deters provided NBC News with a PDF document of texts and Signal messages with Guilfoyle, which were first reported Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.
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which → provide → Journal
The Daily Mail first reported the watchdog investigation.
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Mail → report → investigation
One of the messages provided by Deters appears to show Guilfoyle instructing him to wire the money directly to American Express because “it won’t show up anywhere” that way.
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it → provide → Express
He said he did not pay her the money.
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he → say → money
An attorney for Guilfoyle did not respond to a request for comment, but told the Journal she disputed the authenticity of the messages while not providing specifics.
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she → respond → specifics
Vice President JD Vance said Friday that “these are accusations” and “we don’t try people in the court of public opinion.”
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we → say → opinion
Deters’ claims, he said, are “one person’s story.”
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he → say → ?
“Let’s actually see what the facts are.
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facts → see → ?
Let’s see what the truth is, and obviously if there was something bad that happened, then people have to suffer consequences for it,” he said.
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he → see → it
The White House had no comment.
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House → have → comment
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week asking for more information about additional allegations that appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
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that → write → Journal
On Thursday, Rubio chided a reporter for asking him about the accusations against Guilfoyle while he was with her in Athens.
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he → chide → Athens
“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 some source gave it to you,” he said, adding: “I don’t even know if what you’re reporting is true.”
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reporting → conduct → what
A senior diplomatic official, meanwhile, said the news of probe set off alarm bells throughout the State Department.
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news → say → Department
The official described the investigation as rare and said that watchdog is known primarily for performing routine embassy inspections rather than investigations.
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watchdog → describe → investigations
A spokesperson for the State Department inspector general’s office said the watchdog does not confirm, deny or comment on investigations.
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watchdog → say → investigations
The State Department declined to comment on the accusations against Guilfoyle or any investigation.
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Department → decline → Guilfoyle
During the first Trump administration, Woody Johnson, then the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. and a longtime Republican donor, was investigated by the State Department’s inspector general, who found he made “inappropriate” comments on race, gender and religion to embassy staff.
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he → investigate → staff
The State Department rejected recommendations for Johnson, saying he had watched a government video on workplace harassment and instructed senior officials to do the same, and also encouraged staff to take a training course on “mitigating unconscious bias.”
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he → reject → bias
Under President Joe Biden in 2024, the watchdog investigated U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Jonathan Kaplan, finding the political appointee threatened his staff and failed to submit about $48,000 in travel expenses on time or with proper documentation.
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appointee → investigate → documentation
In Kaplan’s case, State said it was taking the recommendations seriously and made organizational changes.
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it → say → changes
“The president always wants his representatives ... to manage people with dignity and respect,” former White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at the time.
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Kirby → want → time
“He’s comfortable that the State Department is taking this seriously.”
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Department → ’ → this