Speculation over future of US envoy to Greece after ‘improper conduct’ reports

US president Donald Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio are considering firing the US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after a series of reports alleging she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens.

A senior US official said Mr Trump and Mr Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Ms Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and would likely decide on what action to take this week after Monday’s Columbus Day holiday in the States.

The official said Mr Rubio had been particularly angry, not least because he visited Athens just last week and Ms Guilfoyle attended most, if not all, of his events and greeted him on his arrival with a bear hug as the allegations swirled.

In a series of stories, The Wall Street Journal has reported questionable conduct by Ms 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.

Ms Guilfoyle has not addressed the reports directly, but in a statement released late on 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.

The lawyers, David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, also rejected allegations of impropriety related to Ms 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.

“Ambassador Guilfoyle has served, and will continue to serve, with integrity, honour and distinction. We are evaluating all available legal remedies to collect this debt and any other potential causes of action,” the lawyers added.

After defending Ms Guilfoyle following the first report, Mr Rubio has declined to comment publicly on the growing allegations. On Wednesday, Mr Rubio said: “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

But after another report appeared late on Wednesday, Mr Rubio berated journalists for asking about the allegations, saying he did not 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,” Mr Rubio said at the foot of his plane as Ms Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart, looked on.

The official said that Mr Rubio had grown increasingly frustrated as the reports multiplied.

A second US official 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 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 investigation.

The top two Democrats on the house foreign affairs and senate foreign relations committees, representative Gregory Meeks of New York and senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as the ranking member on the house committee for oversight and government reform, Robert Garcia, have already called for an investigation into Ms Guilfoyle.

Since late September, the Journal has detailed numerous accounts of questionable conduct by Ms 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 Mr Rubio was in Athens, the Journal reported, citing text messages, that Ms Guilfoyle had asked a Trump donor and supporter to pay a 100,000 dollar (£75,500) credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did.

The Journal then reported that Ms 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 UK’s Daily Mail, said that Ms 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.

Ms Guilfoyle is a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Mr Trump’s son Donald Jr.