Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle, who represents the United States in Greece in what was widely described as a consolation prize after she divorced President Donald Trump’s eldest son, is reportedly in the hot seat due to an ongoing scandal from her tenure — and may be thrown under the bus by her boss.
“My birthplace, the ancestor of democracy: Greece,” former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos told The Bulwark’s reporter Michael Weiss on Tuesday. “We touched on it two shows ago and got a huge reception, so we have to go back and read some of those comments. But this is about that ongoing potential corruption scandal with the U.S. ambassador in Greece, Kim Guilfoyle, and her ties to this shady energy firm. It got a lot of play.”
He added, after mentioning that Guilfoyle was visited by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that her geopolitical situation is unusual in terms of the Trump administration.
“But it’s really interesting, because there also is this tendency in many elements of Greek society, the press and the government, to downplay this, because U.S.-Greek relations are actually quite good,” Polymeropoulos said. “So what’s going to be interesting to see is how much more traction this gets, with the notion that both you and I know there are numerous journalistic outlets that are following stories of the ambassador’s kind of nightlife and other proclivities.”
Weiss then observed we do not know whether Rubio visited the ambassador to support her or “read her the riot act.”
“Remember, I think we discussed this on the last episode: one of the buried ledes here is that she’s not in good odor within the Trump family,” Weiss said. “The president doesn’t like her because he thinks she corrupted his son. Obviously, the son dumped her, and this was sort of her ‘please go away’ exile, going to Athens.”
He added, “And the Trumpies don’t care about side deals and corruption. Obviously, that’s a feature, not a bug, as they say in the IT world. However, if she’s embarrassing herself and calling attention to a country where, as you say, we now have very good relations (perhaps because of her indulgences), I don’t know, I could see a reason why they might shunt her off into the wilderness even further.”
Polymeropoulos replied, “But for the betterment of U.S.-Greek relations, I think sweeping this under the carpet is not a great idea. I’ve got to show you something here.”
Guilfoyle’s most recent scandal involves her close relationship with Christos Marafatsos, a 39-year-old top lobbyist for Aktor, a large Greek construction company whose CEO has flown Guilfoyle around his private jet. Additionally, Guilfoyle has faced controversy for her lavish spending while in Greece as America’s ambassador (all with taxpayer funds), including renovations to her Athens residence including a basketball court and photographer. The estimated cost of both is a little less than $90,000.
She also left Trump’s 2020 election campaign after allegations of “irresponsible” spending and overall mismanagement, and abruptly left Fox News after being accused of sexual harassment.