Breaking News · October 8, 2026, 3:20 PM CDT
As reported by The Guardian:
A Trump donor accused Kimberly Guilfoyle, the US ambassador to Greece and Trump family ally, of engaging in a “quid pro quo” by asking him to pay off her $100,000 debt in exchange for access to administration officials.
Eric Deters, a former congressional candidate and lawyer, told MS Now on Thursday that Guilfoyle had “ambushed” him last year with an offer to provide access to government officials if he paid her American Express credit card bill, before her US Senate confirmation hearing as ambassador to Greece.
“It absolutely was a quid pro quo,” Deters told the network in response to a Wall Street Journal report that she had pushed him for the money.
“Kimberly Guilfoyle is a grifter,” he added. The Guardian has asked Guilfoyle’s lawyer for comment.
Jesse Binnall, a lawyer for Guilfoyle, told the Wall Street Journal that Guilfoyle disputed the authenticity of the messages, but that she was “owed a balance” for travel and speaking at events before her nomination.[1]
Video: CBS News, October 8, 2026 — “Marco Rubio slams press after getting question about Kimberly Guilfoyle allegations”. Matched to this story by shared names and terms in its title; watch the original for full context.
On the record
“With that hypothetical, Jen, obviously I don’t love that,” the vice-president replied.[1]
The numbers in the reporting
How 5 outlets are reporting it
- Marco Rubio brushes off questions about Kimberly Guilfoyle pressing donor to pay credit card (The Guardian)
- ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account (WSJ)
- Who is Eric Deters? The MAGA donor Kimberly Guilfoyle sought $100,000 from for AmEx bill (The Hill)
- Rubio flips out after being questioned on the Kimberly Guilfoyle AMEX bill scandal (The Independent)
- Ambassador Guilfoyle’s troubles go from bad to worse with new corruption allegations (MS NOW)
What The Independent reports
Rubio took questions from reporters before departing Greece, while Guilfoyle, present to see him off, looked on Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later?
Start your Independent Membership today. Log in U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio got short with reporters on Thursday when asked to address a new report alleging that U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle engaged in potentially illegal conduct prior to assuming her post.[2]
What is not yet confirmed
- A lawyer for Guilfoyle disputed the authenticity of messages Deters shared with the Wall Street Journal.[1]
- President Donald Trump cover a $100,000 credit card balance shortly before her confirmation hearing, allegedly pledging access to administration officials in return.[2]
What the official record says
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says, in its own words:
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to review allegations that U.S.[3]
Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, may have improperly advocated on behalf of a foreign company and provided access for a registered lobbyist to attend official U.S.[3]
How to Verify This Yourself
Each headline above links to that outlet’s own report. The quoted passages come from the first two of those reports that could be retrieved in full.
References
- The Guardian. Marco Rubio brushes off questions about Kimberly Guilfoyle pressing donor to pay credit card. ↩
- The Independent. Rubio flips out after being questioned on the Kimberly Guilfoyle AMEX bill scandal. ↩
- the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [2026-10-06] Ranking Member Shaheen Demands Answers from Secretary… Primary (official source) ↩
Investigative methodology: this story was selected because 5 separate news organizations were reporting it at the same time. The quoted text is verbatim from the cited reports; nothing is paraphrased or added. Produced by scripts/breaking_news_monitor.py, not a language model.
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