Remember Eric Deters? He’s the suspended northern Kentucky lawyer who ran for governor in the Republican primary in 2023 and then again for Congress in 2024. He also runs the conservative pro-Trump Patriots Day Freedom Fest, which he cancelled this year due to low VIP ticket sales, and hosts a conservative Youtube show.
Now Deters is in the national spotlight after the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle — ex-fiancé to Donald Trump Jr. — asked Deters to pay $100,000 of her credit card debt shortly before her Senate confirmation hearing.
In the messages, which Deters provided to Kentucky Public Radio, Guilfoyle allegedly asked Deters, whom she had a prior arrangement with, to pay her American Express bill.
In an interview with KPR, Deters said he had an understanding with Guilfoyle that she would help him get more publicity and talk to members of President Donald Trump’s administration about a medical malpractice case he is consulting on. It centers around an Ohio doctor with practices in Kentucky, Dr. Abubakar Atiq Durrani, who allegedly conducted medically unnecessary spinal surgeries — for which he was federally indicted in 2013.
“She hit me with this $100,000 request,” Deters said. “I said, Kimberly, ‘Why should I do that? You haven't done anything to help me. You haven’t done anything that you promised.’”
From his messages with Guilfoyle, it also appears Deters wanted her to discuss a tax dispute he had with the then-Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Billy Long.
Deters said he had paid Guilfoyle a total of $300,000 for appearance at his Freedom Fest. He said he knew he had likely overpaid.
“I overpaid, but I didn't care because I was nurturing my relationship in Trump world,” Deters said.
He then said he promised to pay her an additional $1 million if she would help him get publicity for his medical malpractice case. In messages appearing to discuss that arrangement, Guilfoyle tells Deters that it’s “unbelievable when we have a private arrangement” that he would send a producer messages “talking about money.”
“What a nightmare you’ll literally cost me my ambassadorship” Guilfoyle messaged Deters.
Deters said when she messaged him about paying for her AmEx card, he did not have $100,000 to spare, and instead told her it would put a strain on his marriage to provide the money.
“If I had the $100,000 at the time, I would have paid it. But at that time, because I spend $2 million a year fighting for these Dr. Durani victims, I didn't have the $100,000 to spare,” Deters said. “What's so funny about it is she claimed to be my great friend, and I'd already paid her $300,000. When I didn't do that $100,000, she never talked to me again. Never heard from her again.”
In the July 3, 2025 message, Guilfoyle messaged Deters, “I have been officially announced honey please I need you to get this done for me today,” noting that banks would be closed the next day. Guilfoyle would go on to be confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 18, 2025.
In response to the Wall Street Journal, Guilfoyle’s lawyer questioned the authenticity of the messages and said she was owed money for her event appearances.
In the messages, Guilfoyle appears to tell Deters to stop “papering all these things,” apparently referring to memos he sent her instead of texts or calls.
“It’s really dangerous and not helpful to you or me while you could simply just call on Signal,” Guilfoyle allegedly messaged.
When asked how he would describe his relationship with Guilfoyle, Deters described her as a consultant of sorts. He said he has grown disillusioned with the Trump administration.
“The Trump administration is selfish, and if it doesn't help them, they don't care. So they'll do favors for billionaires. They'll do favors for people in the news when they think that they can tie on the news program. They'll do a favor for mega politicians that hold public office because they need them,” Deters said.
In the documents he shared, Deters also appeared to be frustrated that Guilfoyle had not secured him an introduction to Kid Rock, which the WSJ reported had to do with a song Deters wrote with Mark Aulick called “Kentucky Outlaw.”
