The State Department's Office of the Inspector General is investigating U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle and her tenure at the embassy, according to reporting confirmed by multiple outlets on Thursday and Friday. The investigation was prompted by allegations involving financial impropriety and potential ethics violations.
The central accusation comes from Eric Deters, a legal consultant and longtime Trump supporter and donor who has accused Guilfoyle of requesting that he pay her outstanding $100,000 American Express bill in the days preceding her July 2025 Senate confirmation hearing. Deters told NBC News on Thursday that Guilfoyle framed the request as a quid pro quo arrangement, saying "She was so desperate for that $100,000. It was a quid pro quo. She said I could ask her for anything and everything in Trump world." Deters provided text and Signal messages to NBC News and The Wall Street Journal in which Guilfoyle allegedly instructed him to wire the money directly to American Express because "it won't show up anywhere" that way. Deters stated he did not pay the money and noted that his wife would have divorced him if he had done so. At the time of the alleged requests, Deters was seeking Guilfoyle's assistance with personal tax and legal issues and had promised payments of as much as $1 million if she was successful in that effort.
Guilfoyle, 57, is a former Fox News personality, Trump campaign surrogate, and ex-fiancée of Donald Trump Jr. An attorney for Guilfoyle disputed the authenticity of the messages provided by Deters to journalists but did not provide specific details of how they were inauthentic. The attorney did not respond to further requests for comment. When questioned about the allegations while on an official visit to Athens, Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized reporters for raising the matter and stated, "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. I don't even know if what you're reporting is true."
According to additional reporting, the investigation by the State Department's inspector general encompasses more than the financial allegations. Multiple sources familiar with the matter told the Daily Mail that the watchdog probe also addresses complaints about Guilfoyle's leadership at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, including allegations of a "toxic workplace," unreasonable demands on staff, and a lavish lifestyle. One source described her management style as the "complete opposite" of what is expected of a political appointee. Specific allegations reported include workplace outbursts, threats of termination to staff, and incidents such as allegedly demoting security personnel who did not respond to requests made at 4 a.m., including one incident in which a security guard was reportedly demoted after failing to respond when Guilfoyle allegedly called him for ice cubes while drinking early in the morning.
Vice President JD Vance addressed the allegations on Friday, stating "these are accusations" and cautioning against prejudging the matter in public. "Let's actually see what the facts are. Let's see what the truth is, and obviously if there was something bad that happened, then people have to suffer consequences for it," Vance said. He separately stated, "I don't like anybody selling access to another government official."
According to a senior diplomatic official cited by NBC News, the investigation has "set off alarm bells throughout the State Department." The official noted that such investigations by the inspector general are rare, as the watchdog office primarily performs routine embassy inspections rather than investigative probes. A spokesperson for the State Department's Office of the Inspector General said the watchdog does not confirm, deny, or comment on investigations. The State Department itself declined to comment on the allegations against Guilfoyle or any investigation.
Watchdog investigations into potential ethics violations by U.S. ambassadors have occurred before, though they remain uncommon. During the first Trump administration, Woody Johnson, then U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and a longtime Republican donor, was investigated for making "inappropriate" comments on race, gender, and religion to embassy staff. The State Department rejected the watchdog's recommendations in that case after Johnson completed workplace harassment training. In 2024, the inspector general investigated U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Jonathan Kaplan, a political appointee who was found to have threatened staff and improperly documented approximately $48,000 in travel expenses. The State Department said it was taking the recommendations in that case seriously and made organizational changes.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio requesting additional information about the allegations against Guilfoyle that appeared in reporting. Notably, Guilfoyle herself, while working as a Fox News host prior to her current role, had called for a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton, criticizing Clinton's purported "willingness to sell access" through the Clinton Foundation as a "pay-for-play" scheme involving "racketeering" and "corruption."
