Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Tuesday that he instructed his office to conduct an investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate, the pro-Trump self-described misogynists who have been indicted in Romania for human trafficking and rape.
The Tates, dual U.S./British citizens, arrived in Fort Lauderdale on a private jet Thursday after it was reported that Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, lobbied for their release from Romania at a conference in Munich.
The brothers had been banned from travel in Romania until Thursday when their U.S. passports had been returned to them.
“Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis upon learning of their arrival. The state AG on Tuesday announced a criminal investigation into the Tates.
“Based on a thorough review of the evidence, I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the now-active criminal investigation into the Tate brothers,” Attorney General Uthmeier said.
Upon their arrival in Florida, the brothers quickly sought a restraining order against a Florida woman, known as Jane Doe, who was one of the accusers in the Romanian case.
Jane Doe filed a civil suit against the brothers in February, claiming they sued her for defamation to “disrupt the Romanian prosecution” and to “bully and harass” her into recanting her testimony against them. The brothers have denied any wrongdoing.
The Tates claimed that Jane Doe threatened them ahead of a hearing on the defamation suit. Those threats came in text messages and “coordinated social media attacks” against them, their friends, and business interests, they said.
The messages contain “explicit threats of violence, harm, or other dangerous actions toward” the brothers, including “destroying the lives” of the Tates, “wanting to watch them suffer,” “using biological weapons” on the brothers and their friends, and killing them, the court filing states.
- Romanian prosecutors said in a news release that they were still pursuing criminal investigations against two British American citizens, without naming the Tate brothers.
- Andrew Tate, 38, is a former professional kickboxer, who along with his 36-year-old brother have millions of followers on social media, most of them young men including school children, who are attracted by their lavish lifestyle.
NYT, The Independent, CBS, AJ
