Trump appointee Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece, has been asked to resign from her post after coming under severe criticism over allegations that she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens, new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia said Tuesday.
It wasn't immediately clear if Guilfoyle had resigned.
But Zacharia, in her first press briefing, said Guilfoyle "has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well."
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 US 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 a 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.
Rubio defended Guilfoyle and berated journalists who asked about her
After defending Guilfoyle following the first report, Rubio has declined to comment publicly on the growing allegations. Last week, Rubio said: "Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here."
But after another report appeared later, 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 at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart, looked on.
The allegations began surfacing weeks ago
A second US official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said the State Department's inspector general is looking into the allegations, which first began surfacing in the Journal late last month and have since multiplied.
The second official could not say if a formal IG probe had begun. Inspectors general often conduct informal inquiries into complaints against staffers and many times those inquiries do not result in a full-on investigation, which can result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
The State Department has declined to comment on a potential IG investigation.
Democrats have called for an investigation
The top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as the ranking member on the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform, Robert Garcia, D-Calif., have already called for an investigation into Guilfoyle.
Since late September, the Journal has detailed numerous accounts of questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. Its first report said that she had told guests at a reception that the US could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.
While Rubio was in Athens, the Journal reported -- citing text messages -- that Guilfoyle had asked a Trump donor and supporter to pay a USD 100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did.
The Journal then reported that Guilfoyle had been enraged about not being invited to a Greek-themed event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year and demanded to attend while boasting about luxury travel to France with energy company executives.
Another report, from the British tabloid The Daily Mail, said that Guilfoyle had alienated staff at the US Embassy in Athens and had pushed the bounds of behaviour appropriate for the top representative of the US government to Greece.
Guilfoyle is a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once married to California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and was engaged to Trump's son Donald Jr.