Kimberly Guilfoyle responds after Trump asks for resignation

[0:00] The new White House press secretary, Katie Zachariah, said the Trump administration has [0:04] asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign her position as the United States ambassador to Greece. [0:12] We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team and [0:19] we wish her well. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the United States ambassador to Greece, [0:24] is now responding to the White House's request for her resignation. CNN national security [0:29] correspondent Kylie Atwood is back with us in the Situation Room. What is she saying? [0:34] Yeah, so this is the first time we've heard from her, as you said, Guilf, and she acknowledges that [0:38] her time as ambassador may be coming to an end. This is in a very lengthy Twitter post that came [0:43] from her personal Twitter account, not her ambassador Twitter account. And we should note [0:48] that she does not actually say in this post that she has put forth her resignation yet, [0:53] so we'll watch to see where that goes. But she does very clearly come out against these reports, [0:59] calling the reports of her misconduct false and saying she wants to address those allegations. [1:04] They're false and, quote, I intend to vigorously defend my name, my reputation, and my integrity. [1:10] She goes on to thank President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for her time being U.S. [1:15] ambassador to Greece. She was on that post for just over a year before now she has been asked to [1:21] resign. But we'll watch and see where this goes because she also notably says that even though it [1:26] looks like her time is coming to an end, she wants to still be a part of President Trump's effort of [1:30] the MAGA movement. We know that she is really an integral player in that world, given she has, [1:37] she had a very close relationship with President Trump's son, Don Jr., who she was engaged to for [1:42] four years. She has still maintained close relationships, as we understand it, with the Trump [1:46] family. So this is an interesting dynamic here, but still not saying that she has put forth [1:51] that resignation yet. Yeah. Well, it's hard to say no after the White House publicly in the White [1:57] House briefing room, the new press secretary announces that the administration has asked [2:01] her to resign. Yeah. And it's also, you know, we'll watch to see if that statement comes from her [2:07] lawyers, because she is clearly saying in this lengthy post that she's going to be defending herself. [2:13] She says that these allegations are false and that she did nothing wrong. So clearly this is going to [2:19] turn into a potential legal battle, particularly because the main person who charged her with [2:25] this, you know, pay for play scheme that he alleges is now saying that he will be suing for [2:31] defamation. So there could be a legal future to this problem that she has found herself in. [2:36] Story is not over yet. All right. Thanks very much, Kylie. [2:39] We are rejoined now by Eric Dieters. He is the donor who said that Kimberly [3:14] Gilboil asked him for money in exchange for access to administration figures. And now we know from [3:20] the White House that she has been asked to resign from her post as you ambassador to Greece. So [3:25] thanks for coming back on. We reestablish your audio. What is your reaction to what we just heard [3:30] from the White House, Eric? Well, I think it's a good move. I did not think she would be able to [3:37] survive it. I think she could have survived what was going on in Greece because it was over in [3:42] Greece. But I don't think she could have survived my allegation. We still haven't heard anything from [3:48] her side in terms of what her response is to this request to resign. But are you surprised at all [3:53] that Trump didn't just outright fire her? No, because of the long term relationship. I think he was [4:01] trying to give her a little bit of grace. And I would like to stress this. And this is really important [4:05] for me to stress that I had been a great supporter of Trump World and Kimberly Guilfoyle had paid her [4:13] $300,000. And Kimberly Guilfoyle claimed to be my friend. And all I wanted Kimberly Guilfoyle to do [4:22] is to help me help the Dr. Durrani victims, 580 people who had unnecessary spine surgeries. [4:29] And I wanted him to get extradited. And I wanted an investigation of how he fled. And she couldn't [4:36] even do that for me. And it's tragic. And I also want to say this. I'm going to be suing them for [4:44] defamation. They first said the text messages were fake. The Wall Street Journal established they were [4:50] not fake. They're still on my phone, by the way. Then they claimed I was a known blackmailer. [4:55] More defamation. Then they claiming with their statement that, oh, this is for services rendered. [5:01] When the text messages clearly show that she says, we need to paper this. And the papering was me, [5:10] I was willing to do it because I didn't care, claiming that it was for her prior consulting, [5:16] which is a complete lie. And she knows it. So she is a liar. She's a manipulator. [5:22] She's not a very good person, to be very candid with you. She thought she was playing me. Well, [5:30] she found out different. And as you know, her lawyers are denying these accusations. They do [5:35] say that she was asking money from you for consulting and speeches. Is there any truth to that at all? We [5:43] have the statement up on the screen here from her lawyers. Go ahead. Absolutely not. That is a [5:49] complete lie. And she knows it. I owed her nothing. And again, I am going to be filing a lawsuit this [5:57] week or next against the lawyers, against Kimberly Guilfoyle for defamation. I'm going to get to take [6:05] their deposition. They won't be able to produce any proof. It's going to be fun. So this is far from [6:12] over. I am going to make her pay for what she said about me. Did you ever do any business with [6:20] her? No, I paid her three times, three times to show up and speak at Patriots Day Freedom Fest. [6:30] That was it. Now, I did also tell her that if she would help me with the medical protective [6:36] Dr. Durrani situation, that when the case settled, I'd give her a million dollars. Guess [6:42] what she did? Zero zilch. And the other thing I want everybody to know, too, everything I did with [6:49] her was above board until the $100,000 American Express that she was desperate for me to pay [6:57] before her confirmation hearing. There was no issues. There was no illegality or unethical conduct [7:04] by her up until then. But that was unethical as hell. And she knew it because she wanted to cover it up. [7:11] Why would you wait so long to come out and talk to the Wall Street Journal and put this out there? [7:16] I'm just curious. It's very simple. Very simple. I'm very candid. I'm very honest about this. [7:21] I decided when I canceled Patriots Day Freedom Fest, it made national news. I was like, wow. So what I [7:27] decided to do was to nail Kimberly Guilfoyle with all of this information in order to bring attention [7:34] to the cause she refused to help me on, which is the Dr. Durrani. 580 people had unnecessary spine [7:44] surgeries. And this guy fled the country. He needs to be extradited back here. And there needs to be a [7:50] federal investigation, not only into how he left, why he left, and medical protectives role in it. [7:57] The entire Ohio court system is corrupt as hell in this matter. These people have waited 14 years [8:05] for their trial, and some of them are going to have to wait 20 more years for their trial. It is [8:09] the biggest medical, legal, court corruption scandal in American history, and nobody will report about it. [8:18] Well, you're certainly getting your message out about it here. Just to follow up with you, [8:22] the State Department watchdog, as we reported, is investigating the accusations. Have they reached [8:27] out to you? You said you still have these texts on your phone. Have you handed them over to anyone [8:31] yet? They have not reached out to me yet, but Garcia and Raskin have both reached out to me, [8:40] and I will be talking to them tomorrow. Anything else you want to add? I want to thank you for [8:48] covering the story. I know your focus is on the Kimberly Guilfoyle resignation, [8:53] as it should be, but thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Durrani [8:59] victims. Eric Dieters, thank you for coming on the show. We appreciate it. [9:05] Thank you. Wolf? And here to discuss former communications director for Vice President [9:11] Kamala Harris, Ashley Etienne, and former Republican Senatorial Committee aide, Liam Donovan. I want to [9:17] get both of your reactions to the news about Kimberly Guilfoyle. You heard the new White House press [9:21] Secretary say that the president wants her to resign. Ashley, what do you think? [9:26] Well, I mean, I think this is a prime example of the culture of corruption that has consumed this [9:30] White House, not just this term, but the first term we saw it happening there as well. You know, [9:36] the access to our government should not be for sale, and that's the part I find most offensive about this, [9:42] having worked in two White Houses. The other thing I would say is I'm shocked that Donald Trump [9:46] has moved so swiftly. He typically digs his heels in when people come at him with allegations about [9:52] his own people, but I think he's reading the tea leaves. He knows that November is fast approaching. [9:57] Democrats are going to take over. They're going to start doing some aggressive investigations of [10:01] this administration, so I wouldn't be surprised if you see more administration officials that decide [10:06] that they're going to step down or Trump asks them to resign to not serve as a distraction. [10:10] Liam, what do you think? It's a bad look. I think it's the appropriate move to ask her to resign. [10:14] You can't have these sorts of things come out. Whatever the circumstances, that is not tenable. [10:19] I think you're barking up the tree if you're asking the ambassador to Greece to make an IRS [10:23] problem go away, but that's kind of a side issue. But I think, you know, there is a tendency at times [10:29] to withstand some of these bad stories and bad press out of various reasons. I think they're doing the [10:35] right thing to nip this in the bud as quickly as possible. Why do you think they're not withstanding [10:38] it like they typically do? Like Ashley said, they typically dig in their heels. I think the president [10:43] in particular really has a problem with the idea that people are making money trading off of his [10:48] name. And then he's not making any money off of it. I just think there is a nerve that is touched by [10:54] this notion that by the perception of closeness to him is being monetized, I think he has a [11:00] fundamental problem with that. And whatever the relationship is, that's a bridge too far. [11:04] I think she's also easily disposable. I mean, you know, versus someone like Pete Hegseff, right? [11:09] So I think that makes it easy for her to, for them to force her. [11:13] Why not just fire her? Why just ask her to resign as opposed to she's fired? [11:17] That might be part of the courtesy. I don't know. I mean, there's certainly a longstanding [11:20] relationship there, as the previous guest said. But yeah, I mean, he doesn't like to fire people, [11:24] right? I mean, that's a, despite the, you're fired tagline, like that's kind of a hallmark of [11:29] Donald Trump is interpersonally in a direct way. The actual firings tend to take longer. [11:35] So just taking a step back here, we learned about this from the new White House press secretary, [11:41] Katie Zachariah. It was a very brief press briefing. What did you think of it, Liam? And then I'll go to [11:47] you, Ashley. I'll be honest, I didn't get a chance. We were in the green room. Did you know anything [11:51] about her before? I didn't. I had to kind of look it up, but it actually, in a weird way, it tracks. [11:55] Like, I think there's a short list of people that people might have expected, even maybe some of our [11:59] CNN colleagues here. But the president really likes people who are good on TV and serve a very [12:06] particular lane. And I also think that the model of Caroline Levitt was such that, you know, somebody [12:12] that is central casting in that sense makes a lot of sense. And I think the division of labor within [12:18] the communications department will be what I watch. Is she the one working stories with reporters, [12:22] or is she just the one out to deliver the message at the podium? [12:24] I mean, for me, it made a lot of sense. You know, I've prepped a lot of press secretaries who've gone to [12:28] that podium before. And what you want to do is you want to, especially on day one, position your press [12:33] secretary day one, make news, and to not be, have her back against the wall. Had she not come out [12:39] proactively and said that the ambassador is going to step down, you can imagine the flood of questions [12:44] that she would have gotten and creates an environment where she could trip, stumble, not do her best [12:49] performance. So I think it was smart of them to give her this news nugget. It was an obvious low-hanging fruit. [12:54] And then, you know, she's got a great successful first day.