Florida has launched an investigation into misogyny influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan just days after the pair arrived in the United States. The Tate brothers have dual U.S. and British citizenship and were facing charges of rape and human trafficking in Romania as well as charges of rape, human trafficking, and tax evasion in Britain.
In a post on X, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he’d told the cops to launch a preliminary inquiry into the Tate brothers. “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,” he said.
Uthmeier didn’t mince words about the nature of the investigation when talking to local reporters later. “These guys have themselves publicly admitted to participating in what very much appears to be soliciting, trafficking, preying upon women around the world,” he said. “Many of these victims coming forward, some of them minors. People can spin this however they want, but in Florida this kind of behavior is viewed as atrocious. We’re not going to accept it. They chose to come here and set their feet down in this state.”
Florida Attorney General @JamesUthmeierFL says he's opened criminal investigation of Tate brothers, @Cobratate & @TateTheTalisman:
"These guys have themselves publicly admitted to participating in what very much appears to be soliciting, trafficking, preying upon women…" pic.twitter.com/FYIfbDKCBu
— Forrest Saunders (@FBSaunders) March 4, 2025
The Tate brothers were awaiting trial in Bucharest and facing a widespread travel ban. They landed in Florida on February 28 to the widespread shock of everyone, including Florida Governor and Republican Ron DeSantis. “Clearly the federal government has jurisdiction, whether it’s Pam Bondi or Kristi Noem that they will be looking at that,” DeSantis told a reporter at a press conference after news broke.
“The reality is that no, Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct in the air. I don’t know how it came to this. We were not involved. We were not notified. I found out through the media that this was something that was happening.”
The move led to widespread speculation that Trump or someone in his administration had intervened to give the Tate brothers freedom of movement after spending years under house arrest in Romania. Trump has denied he knows the brothers. The Financial Times, citing multiple sources in the administration, reported that the White House pressured the Romanian government to release the brothers.
“The Tates will be free, Trump is president,” Andrew Tate said in a post on X on February 12, just two weeks before he’d fly to Florida. “The good old days are back. And they will be better than ever. Hold on.”
In a podcast appearance earlier this week, Tate denied that Trump had direct involvement in the removal of his travel ban. “I’d like to be optimistic and believe that Donald Trump saw this garbage, and maybe [asked] some questions. I like that idea, but I don’t know. I had no confirmation. I have no idea,” Tate said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was meeting with Trump around the time the Tates landed in Florida. He pressed the president about the issue. “It’s important justice is done,” he told Trump. Back home, he and others have called for the extradition of the brothers to the U.K.
Tate was already involved in a legal case in Florida. He’s suing one of his accusers for defamation as part of an ongoing and complicated legal battle. It’s this legal case that’s the source of the Tate brothers’ troubles in the state, according to Tate lawyer Joseph D. McBride.
“Today, Attorney General James Uthmeier threw ethics law out of the window when he publicly took a side in an ongoing Florida lawsuit where Andrew and Tristan Tate are suing a Florida woman for orchestrating a sophisticated plot to use sex as a weapon to ruin their lives,” McBride said in a post on X.
McBride also said that the only thing Tate is guilty of is helping young men vote for Trump and “resisted the woke mind virus.”
“It is very clear what’s going on here. Ron DeSantis thinks he owns Florida. For years, he’s run roughshod over Florida’s laws and silenced his enemies while pretending to be a man of the people when he is nothing of the sort,” McBride said. “He’s an angry, vertically challenged imp who hates Tate and Trump for being actual men. Attorney General Uthmeier is his pathetic lap dog.”
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