Deters Alleges Guilfoyle Requested $100,000 Before Confirmation

Eric Deters says Kimberly Guilfoyle asked him to pay a $100,000 American Express bill while awaiting confirmation as ambassador to Greece, as he sought her help with federal tax and extradition matters. Representative Robert Garcia requested financial and communications records. Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputes the messages and says the money could have concerned travel or speaking expenses.

The request surfaced publicly in October 2026, more than a year after the alleged exchange. Deters, a Kentucky businessman, former lawyer and Republican political candidate, says Guilfoyle sought the payment days before her July 9, 2025 Senate hearing. He supplied messages to news organizations and described the arrangement as an exchange for official help. He says he never paid the $100,000; in his ABC interview he said he lacked the money. Earlier reporting recorded his explanation to Guilfoyle that a payment would create problems with his wife.

The alleged credit-card request was part of a longer financial relationship. An October 8 letter from House Oversight ranking Democrat Robert Garcia recounts reported correspondence in which Deters said he had paid Guilfoyle $300,000 over the years but received no favors. The letter also describes a proposed payoff of as much as $1 million for assistance obtaining access to administration officials. These earlier payments and proposed sums are separate from the unpaid $100,000 American Express request.

Garcia’s letter describes a June 11, 2025 consulting letter referring to $50,000 in back pay and another $50,000 for services until confirmation. It recounts an alleged July 3 request to pay American Express directly and reported messages discouraging written discussion of the arrangement. The letter says Guilfoyle forwarded Deters’s correspondence to then-IRS Commissioner Billy Long and lobbied the Justice Department on his behalf. In a CNN interview, Deters described his tax dispute as civil and acknowledged that a consulting-fee description did not accurately describe his proposed payment.

Deters also told ABC that he offered Guilfoyle money to seek the extradition of an Ohio doctor who had fled to Pakistan. The purported interventions involve specific tax and extradition matters, alongside promises of access.

Guilfoyle’s attorney disputed the authenticity of the messages and suggested the money could have reimbursed travel and speaking expenses. Deters denied owing her money. The embassy defended her public-service record in its statement to the Wall Street Journal. Garcia requested preservation of relevant records and sought financial and communications documents by October 22, 2026.

Guilfoyle had worked as a prosecutor and television presenter before her nomination, as her Senate testimony records. She was formerly married to Gavin Newsom and later engaged to Donald Trump Jr.; the engagement ended in 2024. Trump selected her for the diplomatic post. The Foreign Relations Committee held her hearing on July 9, 2025, and the Senate confirmed her on September 18 by 51–47. The alleged solicitation thus predates confirmation, when she had already been selected for the office.

Deters’s criticism extends to the Trump family’s financial dealings. He says he paid Donald Trump Jr. $200,000 for two appearances and Eric Trump $100,000. In the Hill’s account of his MS NOW interview, he said those speaking fees themselves were not his objection; he criticized the family’s cryptocurrency ventures and Jared Kushner’s Saudi-backed investment business. He also made broader accusations about Guilfoyle, Corey Lewandowski and Kristi Noem. He said he would keep supporting Trump’s policies and MAGA candidates while rejecting Trump personally.

(2) being a public official or person selected to be a public official, directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value personally or for any other person or entity, in return for: (A) being influenced in the performance of any official act; 18 U.S.C. § 201(b)(2)(A)

Deters alleges a personal-debt payment demand connected to federal assistance. Section 201 covers a person selected for public office and demands or solicitations. The Supreme Court’s McDonnell decision distinguishes action on a specific governmental matter from arranging access or a meeting.

(1) directly or indirectly, corruptly gives, offers or promises anything of value to any public official or person who has been selected to be a public official, or offers or promises any public official or any person who has been selected to be a public official to give anything of value to any other person or entity, with intent— (A) to influence any official act; 18 U.S.C. § 201(b)(1)(A)

Deters acknowledges offering money for extradition help. Section 201(b)(1) addresses corrupt offers intended to influence an official act.

Sources

AI generated report by Explorvia.com.