(KRON) -- Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are demanding answers from embattled U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle regarding an alleged "pay-to-play scheme." Guilfoyle, the former first lady of San Francisco, has been in the spotlight this week after a bombshell Wall Street Journal report emerged.
Text exchanges reviewed by the Journal, which have also been seen by KRON4 partner News Nation, indicated Guilfoyle urged a Kentucky Trump donor to pay her $100,000 American Express bill, just days before her Congressional confirmation hearing.
"Honey please I need you to get this done for me today," Guilfoyle wrote in a message to former Kentucky congressional candidate Eric Deters, accompanying her message with a praying hands emoji and a PDF with instructions for wiring payment to her AmEx account.
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In another exchange, Guilfoyle told Deters she would be his "Trump ride or die forever and ever" if he would help her. Deters, who was looking for access to the administration has called Guilfoyle a "grifter" in the days since the story broke. He also said his exchange on the matter with Guilfoyle "absolutely was a quid pro quo."
Now Democrats are demanding answers from the ambassador, who was married to Gavin Newsom when he was mayor of San Francisco. In a letter to Guilfoyle that was first reported by PBS, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) expressed alarm regarding "allegations and evidence that you engaged in a pay-to-play scheme with a Republican donor in which you demanded $100,000 in exchange for access to senior Trump Administration officials."
"Americans dealing with the cost of living are outraged that a Trump family affiliate and high-ranking officials thinks she can get someone to pay off her $100,000 credit card bill by selling policy influence to wealthy donors," Garcia wrote. "I am further concerned by the donor's claim that you 'have done this to more than [him]' and that you are 'doing it right now in Greece,' raising concerns about a culture of impunity allowed at U.S. Embassy Athens."
In the letter, Garcia requested detailed information on Guilfoyle's financial records, communications with Deters, and with senior administration officials "on behalf of your benefactors." Among others, Garcia asked for records related to communications with Deters, FBI Director Kash Patel, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and former IRS Commissioner Billy Long.
Guilfoyle, through her attorneys, has disputed the authenticity of the text exchanges with Deters. Despite reports that the U.S. State Department has launched an inquiry into the matter, Secretary of State Rubio and other senior Trump Administration officials have publicly stood by Guilfoyle.
The 57-year-old ambassador with previously engaged to President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. A former Fox News personality, Guilfoyle began her career as a San Francisco Assistant District Attorney.
The San Franisco-born Guilfoyle was married to Newsom for the first two years of his mayoral term. She later moved to New York to work for Fox News and eventually moved into the orbit of Trump World, becoming an outspoken champion of the president and the MAGA movement.
