Vice President Vance on Friday responded to reports that U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle asked a Trump donor for help with her personal debt in exchange for political access, stating that if the allegations are substantiated, "people have to suffer consequences."
Speaking to reporters during a visit to his home state of Ohio, Vance stressed the need to avoid rushing to judgment. "Look, these are allegations, and what I always say is: we don't try people in the court of public opinion. We try people in a court of law," he said.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday that Guilfoyle allegedly asked Eric Deters, a GOP donor, to wire $100,000 to American Express without leaving a paper trail, promising in return to facilitate his access to senior administration officials. The request reportedly came just before her Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing for the Greece ambassadorship.
Deters declined the request, saying it would jeopardize his marriage, according to messages shared with the Journal and later obtained by NewsNation.
Vance dismissed the notion that the messages alone prove wrongdoing. "You don't take messages that people allegedly had between one person or another, or one person's story, and say, 'Oh, because of that, Kimberly Guilfoyle is guilty.' I think that's absurd," he said. "Let's actually see what the facts are. Let's see what the truth is."
He added, "And obviously, if there was something bad that happened, then people have to suffer consequences for it."
The controversy has intensified scrutiny on advisers within Trump's orbit. Asked whether the allegations reflect "how the administration works," Vance replied, "certainly not."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was on a diplomatic trip to Greece, also deflected questions about whether he still has confidence in Guilfoyle. "Like, our job is not to respond every time someone decides to give the media something without any advance warning, without having any chance to look at it and see what's in there," Rubio said.
Vance was in Ohio to cast his midterm ballot and participate in a rally supporting Republicans, including Sen. Jon Husted and gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy. The trip comes as the Senate race tightens in the Buckeye State.
The cash-for-access scandal has raised questions about the administration's ethical standards, especially as the Greek trip exposes policy and political fault lines within the Trump team.
