The Republican donor at the heart of the Kimberly Guilfoyle scandal is vowing to turn up the heat on other Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, unless the White House moves to extradite a doctor who fled to Pakistan.
Eric Deters, a Republican donor and former congressional candidate, is demanding the return of Dr. Abubakar Atiq Durrani, who fled to Pakistan after being accused of performing unnecessary spinal surgeries, including on children.
Deters appeared Tuesday on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight” to discuss Guilfoyle’s resignation as U.S. ambassador to Greece.
Guilfoyle stepped down following a series of reports in The Wall Street Journal alleging that she asked Deters to pay her $100,000 credit card bill and offered him access to administration officials ahead of her confirmation.
Guilfoyle has denied the allegations. Deters, for his part, said he now plans to sue her for defamation.
During Tuesday’s interview, Deters said his goal all along was to use the Guilfoyle scandal to grab the Trump administration’s attention, in hopes it would finally listen to his calls to bring Durrani back to the U.S.
With Guilfoyle out, Deters said he is already reaching out to administration officials and keeping the pressure on.
“I am going to beat the drums til the cows come home for President Trump to extradite Dr. Durrani to the United States,” Deters said.
And he made clear Guilfoyle may not be the last official in his crosshairs.
Deters told Pavlich that if the administration fails to act on his demands, he will go after others. He specifically singled out Vance as someone who had “ignored” his request in the past.
“JD Vance is one of the individuals that ignored my request … and I am not going to let JD Vance off the hook,” Deters said.
A spokesperson for the vice president had not responded to The Hill’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Deters said he has already sent emails to White House officials, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, repeating his request.
He laid out his terms in blunt fashion.
“I made this demand: extradition and investigation, or I am going to not only sue Kimberly Guilfoyle, I am never going to shut up,” Deters said.
The GOP donor also warned that the controversy will not fade away on its own if his demands go unmet.
“I don’t think the Trump administration wants this to keep going. And if they don’t do what I’m asking them to do, I’m going to make sure it keeps going,” he added.
The comments signal that the fallout from the Guilfoyle saga may be far from over, as Deters presses the administration to extradite Durrani and launch an investigation, and threatens to keep the pressure on top officials, including the vice president, until it does.
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