House Democrats demand Guilfoyle records in pay-to-play inquiry

House Oversight Committee Democrats on Thursday requested financial records and communications from U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after a Wall Street Journal report alleged she sought money from a donor in exchange for official acts.

The request, made through a letter obtained first by PBS News, escalates congressional scrutiny of Guilfoyle and places an Oct. 22 deadline on her to produce materials related to what Democrats describe as potential public corruption and national security risks.

The letter was signed by committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia of California and sent one day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Guilfoyle asked a supporter of President Donald Trump for $100,000 to pay off her credit card bill ahead of her confirmation hearing.

According to the Journal, Guilfoyle — former fiancee to Donald Trump Jr. — and donor Eric Deters spoke for months as she promised him access to the administration. Deters pledged payments of as much as $1 million in return if she was successful.

Deters told the Journal he asked Guilfoyle to help connect him with Trump’s Justice Department and the IRS, but said Guilfoyle “never came through on anything.” The attorney and business owner said he paid her $300,000 over the years.

Guilfoyle’s attorney told the Journal that the ambassador had been paid to speak at events before her nomination and disputed the authenticity of her messages with Deters.

In his letter, Garcia said Deters’ claim that Guilfoyle had done this with other donors raised “concerns about a culture of Impunity” in the U.S. Embassy in Athens. “This alleged misconduct raises serious public corruption and national security concerns,” Garcia said. “If Trump Administration officials can be bought by donors, the American people suffer the consequences of corrupt leaders more concerned with their own enrichment than the public good and vulnerable to blackmail by foreign intelligence services.”

Garcia set an Oct. 22 deadline for Guilfoyle to turn over personal financial records and two years of communications with Deters and members of the Trump administration, including FBI Director Kash Patel and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asked about congressional scrutiny during a news conference in Greece on Thursday, praised Guilfoyle. “Suffice it to say our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here,” Rubio said.

Rubio declined to comment on the Journal’s reporting. “I don’t even know what you’re reporting is true,” he told reporters. “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.”

Top Democrats on the House and Senate Foreign Affairs committees sent Rubio letters last week calling for an investigation, citing an earlier Wall Street Journal article that detailed Guilfoyle’s involvement with a lobbyist for a Greek construction and energy company who she allowed to attend meetings with foreign officials.

With the Oct. 22 deadline approaching, the Oversight request puts Guilfoyle’s financial records and communications at the center of a dispute in which Rubio has so far declined to say whether the reported conduct occurred.

Reporting by PBS News. Read the original report: House Democrats demand Guilfoyle records in pay-to-play inquiry.