MAGA Donor Sues Kimberly Guilfoyle Over Solicitation

Following a Wall Street Journal report detailing a $100,000 solicitation from a Republican donor, former U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned on Tuesday. The controversy has produced a defamation lawsuit and questions about alleged ethics violations and misconduct, alongside political fallout for the Trump administration.

The sudden exit of Kimberly Guilfoyle brings an abrupt end to an 11-month tenure marked by intense scrutiny and a corruption scandal. Guilfoyle agreed to step down on Tuesday after the White House asked her to resign. President Donald Trump said, I just heard about it. Too bad. I mean, I don’t know, signaling the end of her time as U.S. ambassador to Greece.

Guilfoyle Asked Donor for Money via Signal

According to The Wall Street Journal, Guilfoyle contacted Kentucky attorney and Republican donor Eric Deters via Signal just days before her 2025 Senate confirmation hearing. The published message logs show Guilfoyle asked Deters to wire $100,000 directly to her American Express account to settle a credit card balance, assuring him that the payment won’t show up anywhere.

She offered me to be her ride and die forever if I did this. And to be very candid, I did not do it. But the reason why I did not do it is, I didn’t have that money at the time. It was the worst time that she could have ever asked me for another $100,000.

Deters asserted that the arrangement absolutely was a quid pro quo, noting that he had previously paid the former Fox News host $300,000 in speaking fees. In exchange for further financial backing of up to $1 million, Deters had sought Guilfoyle’s influence to assist with personal tax and legal issues, as well as lobbying the Department of Justice regarding the extradition of Abubakar Atiq Durrani, an Ohio doctor who fled to Pakistan after facing charges over unnecessary surgeries. Deters subsequently shared the communication records with multiple news organizations, including CBS News.

Defamation Lawsuit Filed in Kentucky Court

Eric Deters filed a defamation lawsuit against Kimberly Guilfoyle and her legal team in Kentucky state court. The litigation followed a public statement issued to the Wall Street Journal by Guilfoyle’s attorneys, Jesse Binnall and David M. Schwartz, which claimed that Deters owed Guilfoyle money for previous travel and support at patriotic events and failed to fulfill his financial obligations.

Deters vehemently denied owing any balance. Kim Guilfoyle and her lawyers claimed my allegations were false and they would defend the allegations vigorously, Deters stated alongside his lawsuit filing. Now they can in Kentucky. Prior to the legal action, Guilfoyle’s defense had also reached out to White House officials claiming that the leaked text messages themselves were generated by artificial intelligence. However, anonymous sources told the Wall Street Journal that administration officials dismissed the claim.

Trump and Rubio Grew Angry over Conduct

Reports detailed that Greek businessmen financed luxurious travel arrangements for Guilfoyle, while she allegedly promoted the business interests of a Greek energy company and pitched a $3 million investment in her vodka company, Polished Rice, to local investors. Senior officials reported that President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were extremely pissed off by the conduct.

While Rubio initially pushed back against press inquiries by telling reporters on Thursday that our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here, the compounding revelations proved disruptive. Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky noted on television that Guilfoyle violated unspoken rules of proximity and grift within Trump’s inner circle, observing that outside family members are expected to avoid independent controversies that embarrass the administration during a high-stakes election season.

Lawmakers Anticipate Investigations into Allegations

John Barrasso stated on Face the Nation that the allegations are deeply troubling and that he anticipates investigations from both the Department of State Office of Inspector General and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Meanwhile, House Democrats are preparing to launch oversight investigations into administration business dealings if they capture the majority in the November midterms.

Whether the Department of State Office of Inspector General and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will launch formal inquiries, and how the defamation lawsuit in Kentucky will proceed, remains unknown.

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