Trump Donor Behind Scandal Allegations Takes Legal Action Against Kimberly Guilfoyle
The Trump donor who claimed Kimberly Guilfoyle asked him to pay down $100,000 of credit card charges in exchange for access to top officials is now taking legal action against her.
Eric Deters accused Guilfoyle of asking him to pay off an American Express card debt ahead of her Senate confirmation hearing for the U.S. ambassadorship to Greece, and filed a defamation lawsuit against her and her lawyers, CBS News reported Thursday.
The lawsuit was filed in Kentucky state court.
Guilfoyle resigned as ambassador on Tuesday after the White House asked her to step down, a move that followed the release of several text messages which appear to be between herself and Deters.
She posted a lengthy statement on X thanking President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio before touching upon the controversy surrounding her exit.
“I also want to address the recent allegations against me. These allegations are false, and I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity,” she wrote.
“I have dedicated my professional life to fighting for justice, standing up for what is right, and defending the values that make America exceptional,” Guilfoyle continued. “I will not allow false accusations to define my decades of public service.”
Her legal team has challenged the authenticity of said text messages, which Deters shared with various media outlets.
Deters cited quotes given to The Wall Street Journal by Guilfoyle’s legal team that claimed she “was owed a balance for traveling to and supporting” certain “patriotic events,” which Deters is contesting.
“Now, they’re claiming that there are invoices when she knows that’s not true. In all the text messages, she doesn’t mention anything about me owing money,” he explained, according to a report from The Hill.
“She knows that is phony, and I’m going to be suing them all for defamation.”
Additionally, Deters addressed claims that the aforementioned text messages are fabricated, stating, “The texts are not fake. I have never been accused of or charged with blackmail… This statement contains the falsehood that I owed Kim Guilfoyle money.”
Along with Guilfoyle, the lawsuit named defense attorneys Jesse Binnall and David M. Schwartz, and was filed in Kenton Circuit Court.
“Kim Guilfoyle and her lawyers claimed my allegations were false and they would defend the allegations vigorously,” Deters wrote in a statement regarding the lawsuit. “Now they can in Kentucky.”
He wants a trial by jury and is seeking monetary damages.
The Hill’s broadcast partner NewsNation obtained text messages which seemingly show Guilfoyle begging Deters not to tell anyone about their “arrangement.”
She allegedly said that doing so could “literally cost me my ambassadorship.”
Guilfoyle was previously engaged to the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., before the engagement was broken off in 2024.
“She wasn’t a member of my family,” the commander-in-chief told reporters. “I guess she dated my son a long time ago. She was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading.”
Guilfoyle was previously married to California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2001. She served as first lady of San Francisco from 2004 to 2006 during Newsom’s time as mayor, Business Insider noted. They divorced in 2006.
Guilfoyle later married Eric Villency, with whom she shares a son, and the two stayed together from 2006 to 2009 before getting divorced.
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