Exclusive: House Democrats ask Kimberly Guilfoyle for records related to alleged pay-to-play scheme

Democrats from the House Oversight Committee on Thursday asked U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle for financial records and communications with Trump administration officials after allegations that she engaged in a pay-for-play scheme.

The letter, sent to Guilfoyle by committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and obtained first by PBS News, came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that she had requested money from a donor in return for official acts.

READ MORE: Report alleges Ambassador Guilfoyle improperly asked a donor to pay her credit card bill. Rubio refuses to comment

According to the article, Guilfoyle asked a supporter of President Donald Trump for $100,000 to pay off her credit card bill in the runup to her confirmation hearing. Guilfoyle – the former fiancee to the president's son, Donald Trump Jr. – and donor Eric Deters reportedly spoke for months as she promised him access to the administration. He pledged payments of as much as $1 million in return if she was successful, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Deters told The Wall Street Journal that he asked Guilfoyle to help connect him with Trump's Justice Department and the IRS. However, Guilfoyle "never came through on anything," said the attorney and business owner, who paid her $300,000 over the years.

Guilfoyle's attorney told The Wall Street Journal that the ambassador had been paid to speak at events before her nomination and disputed the authenticity of her messages with Deters.

In his letter Thursday, Garcia said Deters' claim that Guilfoyle had done this with other donors raised "concerns about a culture of Impunity" in the U.S. Embassy in Athens.

"This alleged misconduct raises serious public corruption and national security concerns," Garcia said in the letter. "If Trump Administration officials can be bought by donors, the American people suffer the consequences of corrupt leaders more concerned with their own enrichment than the public good and vulnerable to blackmail by foreign intelligence services."

Read the full letter by clicking the image below.

Garcia set a deadline of Oct. 22 for Guilfoyle to hand over a number of materials related to the allegations, including all personal financial records, as well as two years' worth of communications with Deter and members of the Trump administration, including FBI Director Kash Patel and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Guilfoyle during a news conference in Greece on Thursday after being asked about congressional scrutiny regarding her tenure.

"Suffice it to say our embassy here is doing a great job. Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here," Rubio said.

WATCH: Rubio urges Europe to defend Western values and strengthen U.S. alliance in Greece

He refused to comment on The Wall Street Journal's reporting.

"I don't even know what you're reporting is true," Rubio told reporters before leaving Greece. "You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it's the gospel. It's not the gospel. It's not the gospel for me. That's not the way we do things."

Top Democrats on the House and Senate Foreign Affairs committees sent Rubio letters last week calling for an investigation into reports that Guilfoyle had acted inappropriately in her role as ambassador.

The letters cited an earlier Wall Street Journal article that detailed Guilfoyle's involvement with a lobbyist for a Greek construction and energy company who she allowed to attend meetings with foreign officials.