The State Department has opened an official investigation into complaints about Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle’s alleged “tyrannical” management style and reported use of lavish corporate perks at the US Embassy in Athens, Our News Outlet can exclusively report.
Five sources told Our News Outlet that the Department of State’s Office of Inspector General has launched a formal probe into Guilfoyle, 57, and operations at the US diplomatic mission in Greece.
According to three sources, investigators are examining allegations involving possible substance abuse, the use of private aircraft and helicopters, Guilfoyle’s close association with an energy and construction firm, the acceptance of improper gifts and other concerns.
The investigation comes after Our News Outlet published a series of reports about Guilfoyle’s opulent lifestyle, including luxury travel, gatherings attended by Greek billionaires and pop stars, a personal photographer, demands for champagne, an unpaid restaurant bill, additions to her residence and links to energy lobbyist Christos Marafatsos.
Text messages obtained by the Wall Street Journal have also indicated that Guilfoyle asked Trump donor Eric Deters to cover a $100,000 American Express bill before she was confirmed as ambassador.
Sources in Greece said the Inspector General’s inquiry began after a growing number of internal complaints at the Athens embassy reached a critical point.
“You receive enough complaints and you open up an investigation. That is the way this works,” an insider familiar with the allegations told Our News Outlet. “Hopefully this shakes her.”
Guilfoyle’s attorney, Jesse Binnall, declined to discuss the investigation when previously contacted. He said the ambassador does not comment on “internal matters” as a matter of “standard policy.”
“Any implication of wrongdoing by the Ambassador is unsupported,” Binnall said, directing Our News Outlet to the State Department’s Office of Inspector General.
Binnall also stressed that he is “not a spokesperson for Ms. Guilfoyle.”
Five sources told Our News Outlet that a formal State Department Inspector General investigation has been opened into Guilfoyle, 57, and the US Embassy in Athens following a series of complaints.
Guilfoyle was seen embracing Marco Rubio on the tarmac Tuesday alongside Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Greek Ambassador Antonis Alexandridis.
People inside the Athens embassy describe the workplace as increasingly “toxic.”
“When you are a political appointee like she is, you have to do your very best to perform inside the system walls, and she is doing the complete opposite of that,” a source familiar with the investigation and Guilfoyle’s conduct told Our News Outlet.
Greek sources further allege that Guilfoyle has had angry workplace outbursts and threatened staff members with immediate dismissal.
On multiple occasions, sources claim she directed a now-familiar warning at embassy employees: “F****** get it done or you’re f****** fired!”
Several people with firsthand knowledge described one alleged incident that occurred in Mykonos during the summer.
“Guilfoyle was drinking at four in the morning. She called her security detail, Vasili, a grandfather who was obviously asleep, and he did not respond. The next day, she demoted him,” one source said.
The request reportedly made during the early-morning call was for additional ice cubes.
The security agent, who had previously been in charge, was subsequently reassigned to work in a “follow-car.”
Ambassador Guilfoyle attends the opening Session of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens Wednesday
She now lives in Jefferson House, the ambassador’s villa located in the exclusive Kolonaki neighborhood of Athens
Two other drivers, by the name of Petros and Dimitris, were also reportedly demoted because Guilfoyle didn’t like the way they ‘made a left turn’ and are no longer able to drive for her, two sources confirmed.
Diplomats familiar with the embassy say drivers are trained in the United States and are paid for by the US embassy at taxpayer expense.
Sources additionally detail meetings at the embassy with the Hellenic Police Department and all 16 members of her security detail that followed due to ‘staff turnover’, and ‘verbal abuse’ they claim they experienced from the ambassador.
The dismissals didn’t end there: over the winter, two sources close to Guilfoyle say she dismissed her ethics manager, Ann-Marie Everitt, following a dispute over who funded the renovations to the ambassador’s home.
The Ambassador reportedly renovated the Jefferson house, including the entire upstairs and brand-new bathrooms, with private money raised from affluent Greeks.
MORE ON THIS: Proposed LNG Plant Could Cost Taxpayers €85 Million Even If Never Built
Everitt did not immediately respond to a response for comment.
Senior Congressional Democrats are also raising alarms over Guilfoyle’s conduct, warning she may be unfit for office and calling for her immediate removal if ethical allegations are confirmed.
In urgent demands to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, lawmakers are pressing the State Department to investigate whether Guilfoyle abused her official authority by pushing energy deals tied to corporate clients, granting Marafatsos, a registered lobbyist, access to high-level diplomatic meetings and accepting luxury travel on private aircrafts.
The exterior of the residence in Athens, Greece, where the US Ambassador resides
Since touching down in the Mediterranean on a private jet, President Donald Trump’s ex-daughter-in-law has brought her signature extravagant lifestyle to Athens
Guilfoyle parties in Mykonos
Leaders are demanding meeting logs, personal financial disclosures and proof of flight authorizations. No response from Guilfoyle has been sent publicly yet.
Despite the growing calls from lawmakers demanding a full probe into her conduct, Guilfoyle was fourth in line at the Athens International Airport late Tuesday night to welcome Secretary Rubio.
She put on an extraordinarily warm display, wrapping her arms around Rubio in an embrace on the tarmac alongside Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Greek Ambassador Antonis Alexandridis.
The airport greeting comes as Rubio arrives for the sixth round of the US-Greece Strategic Dialogue, aimed at deepening cooperation in defense, energy and regional security between the two key allies.
Prior to touching down, Rubio described Greece as a ‘very important ally’ of the United States. He is meeting with Foreign Minister Gerapetritis at the Foreign Ministry today for intensive bilateral negotiations.
Guilfoyle, largely sidelined from press conferences, was not present to take questions on the investigations.
But when Rubio was asked about the reporting on her activities in Greece during a press conference today, he brushed off the question, saying: ‘This is not the forum where we’re going to address this.’
As Rubio takes on talks on energy corridors and the F-35 fighter jet program this week, it remains to be seen if Guilfoyle can weather the findings of these extensive probes.
Christos Marafatsos and Kimberly Guilfoyle. Source: Christos Marafatsos/Facebook
Embassy staff and foreign diplomats tread carefully around Guilfoyle, who makes no secret of her direct line to the Oval Office, sources said
Guilfoyle, largely sidelined from press conferences, was not present to take questions on the investigations this week in Greece
‘The question now is, how long can she hang on? At what point will the President look at this and decide, this simply can’t go on,’ a person close to Trump lamented.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The State Department OIG tells Our News Outlet they cannot ‘confirm, deny, or comment on investigative matters.’
President Trump nominated Kimberly Guilfoyle as Ambassador to Greece in December 2024 – just days after Don Jr. was spotted out with Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, whom he has since married.
Following her Senate confirmation last September, insiders urged Guilfoyle to be on good behavior, cautioning that an assignment amid Aegean islands and endless summers wasn’t a green light for nonstop partying.
Nevertheless, she jetted into Athens on a billionaire’s private jet and set up several large welcome parties for herself headlined by a famous Greek pop-star, using the State Department email for RSVPs.
By July, Guilfoyle was spotted sipping bubbly and nibbling grapes at Nammos – the ultra-exclusive jet-set club on Mykonos’s Psarou Beach. The very next day, she jetted off to Paris for Fashion Week.
That same month, Trump bypassed Greece entirely on his return flight from the NATO summit in Turkey, leaving Guilfoyle’s promises of a presidential visit unfulfilled.
