A federal inquiry into Kimberly Guilfoyle, who serves as the U.S. ambassador to Greece under the Trump administration, has been prompted by complaints about her conduct toward embassy personnel, travel expenditures, and possible ethics violations. According to five people who spoke with a prominent broadcast outlet, the State Department's Office of Inspector General has opened a formal investigation into Guilfoyle and the U.S. Embassy in Athens.
No public statement from the inspector general has yet confirmed that an investigation is under way.
Allegations centre on a workplace atmosphere that staff members have characterised as hostile, with claims that employees were required to respond to communications during late-night hours, subjected to shouting, and told their positions were at risk. On multiple occasions, embassy staff received notices from Guilfoyle that incomplete tasks would result in their dismissal, with those communications reportedly delivered in coarse language.
Among the incidents described in the accounts, one took place on the Greek island of Mykonos, where Guilfoyle is said to have contacted a member of her security team in the early hours of the morning — around 4 a.m. — to request additional ice cubes. Vasili, holding the guard post at the time, gave no answer — a lapse that led to his removal from supervisory duties and placement in a follow-car assignment. Reports indicate that Petros and Dimitris, both employed as drivers, lost their positions after Guilfoyle raised objections to the manner in which they executed left turns.
Reports of coordination between Greek police and the ambassador's security detail — a team of sixteen personnel — centred on proposed staffing adjustments and allegations of verbal misconduct. A source with knowledge of the matter told a news outlet that a pattern of complaints tends to prompt formal inquiries, and expressed hope that the scrutiny would prompt accountability. Investigators are separately examining claims that Guilfoyle made use of private aircraft and received gifts considered outside the bounds of propriety. Ties to an energy and construction firm were also raised in the proceedings.
A disagreement over how renovation work at Jefferson House — the ambassador's official residence in Athens — was to be funded led to Ann-Marie Everitt losing her post as ethics manager under Guilfoyle.
Guilfoyle's attorney, Jesse Binnall, pushed back on the allegations, stating that no evidence supports any finding of wrongdoing on the Ambassador's part.
Congressional Democrats had requested a review of Guilfoyle's diplomatic activities, and the State Department inspector general's office, when approached by the newspaper, indicated it was not in a position to address investigative matters in any form. A formal request from Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls for an inquiry into whether Guilfoyle improperly advanced the interests of a foreign company and whether registered lobbyist Christos Marafatsos was granted access to high-level diplomatic meetings. During his Athens visit for defence and energy talks, Rubio chose not to address questions about Guilfoyle's conduct.
