WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump appointee Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, has been asked to resign from her post after coming under severe criticism over allegations she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens, new Trump press secretary Katie Zacharia said Tuesday.
Guilfoyle’s requested departure comes after its possibility was previewed to The Associated Press over the weekend and President Donald Trump registered his unhappiness with reports about Guilfoyle’s alleged conduct on Monday.
“Well, we’re looking at it,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked if he was considering firing Guilfoyle. “We’re not happy.”
Those comments came a day after The Associated Press, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and will likely decide on her future this week.
In a series of stories dating to late last month, The Wall Street Journal has reported questionable conduct by Guilfoyle, including 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 released 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.
Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
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