Trump, Rubio Weigh Firing Guilfoyle
By Sandra Rhodes (/journals/sandra-rhodes)
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are considering firing U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle.
The possible move comes after a series of reports alleging she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure as ambassador.
A senior U.S. official said Sunday Trump and Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s alleged conduct and would likely decide what to do this week.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Rubio had been particularly angry, not least because he visited Athens just last week and Guilfoyle attended most, if not all, of his events and greeted him on his arrival with a bear hug.
The Wall Street Journal published a series of stories about questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. This includes an alleged threat to 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 credit card bill.
Guilfoyle has not addressed the reports directly, but in a statement late Sunday, her lawyers denied she had done anything wrong and claimed that the money she was seeking from the Trump donor was payment for services — public appearances and speaking engagements that predate her ambassadorial nomination — that 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.
“Ambassador Guilfoyle has served, and will continue to serve, with integrity, honor and distinction. We are evaluating all available legal remedies to collect this debt and any other potential causes of action,” the lawyers said.
After first defending Guilfoyle, Rubio has declined to comment publicly on the growing allegations.
“Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here,” Rubio said Wednesday.
After another report came about, Rubio on Thursday before leaving Athens berated journalists for asking about the allegations, saying he didn’t 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 as Guilfoyle looked on.