Rabia Iclal Turan
06 October 2026•Update: 06 October 2026
The top Democrat on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review allegations that the US ambassador to Greece advocated for a foreign company and gave a registered lobbyist access to official government meetings.
Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle’s alleged “actions do not serve US credibility overseas and risk undermining US diplomacy,” Shaheen wrote in a letter dated Oct. 1, and released publicly on Tuesday ahead of Rubio’s scheduled visit to Greece.
“In advance of your upcoming travel to Greece, I request an immediate review of Ambassador Guilfoyle’s actions, and a clarification of what steps have and will be taken to avoid undue influence and even the appearance of a conflict of interest,” she added.
Rubio is visiting Athens as part of a four-day European trip that also includes Iceland and Portugal, and will lead the US delegation at the sixth US-Greece Strategic Dialogue on defense cooperation and regional and energy security, according to the State Department.
Shaheen said she was “troubled” by reporting received by the committee, as well as public reporting, that Christos Marafatsos, a private individual and registered lobbyist for a number of Greek companies, has repeatedly accompanied Guilfoyle in official government meetings.
She also voiced concern over US ambassadors engaging in the domestic politics of allied countries, citing reports that Guilfoyle, referring to the impending collapse of Romania’s government at a March dinner, allegedly told Greece’s energy minister: “We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here.”
The letter follows a Sept. 25 Wall Street Journal investigation which reported that Guilfoyle had persistently promoted Aktor, a Greek construction firm new to the gas business, to officials in southeastern Europe while pushing sales of US liquefied natural gas.
According to the Journal, Marafatsos, a lobbyist for Aktor, attended so many of her meetings that some foreign officials mistook him for her chief of staff, and several people who met with the two said he did not mention his ties to the company.
Guilfoyle’s lawyer disputed the characterization of the dinner exchange and told the newspaper that she has not focused on one company, while lawyers for Aktor said she did not “improperly” promote its commercial interests.
A US Embassy official told the Journal that Guilfoyle abides by State Department guidance, and Rubio, in a statement provided by the White House, called her an “incredibly effective advocate for the President’s agenda.”
