The controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been named the targets of a criminal investigation just days after returning to the United States amid ongoing legal troubles in Europe that include allegations of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
“Last week, I directed my office to work with our law enforcement partners to conduct a preliminary inquiry into Andrew and Tristan Tate,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote on X Tuesday evening. “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.”
The nature of the new investigation was not immediately clear but it could explore similar allegations to what the Tates have been accused of overseas.
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A spokesperson for Uthmeier said the X post “speaks for itself” and sent a brief video showing the attorney general speaking with E.W. Scripps reporter Forrest Saunders recorded in a Florida Capitol hallway Tuesday.
“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.
Some of their accusers include minors, he added.
“In Florida, this type of behavior is viewed as atrocious,” he said. “We’re not going to accept it.”
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Andrew Tate, a 38-year-old former MMA fighter, and Tristan, 37, are also under criminal investigations in Romania and the United Kingdom. They have been sued by a Florida woman who they allege falsely accused them after she traveled to Romania to meet them.
Her attorney, Dani Pinter, praised Uthmeier’s office for launching the new U.S.-based investigation.
“Florida AG Uthmeier is right to criminally investigate the Tate brothers, who have publicly boasted about exploiting women yet have continuously sought to undermine the Romanian investigation into these crimes,” she said in a statement. “Over 40 victims have been identified across Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They deserve justice.”
When they landed on American soil last Thursday after Romanian authorities lifted a travel ban, Andrew Tate told reporters at the airport in Fort Lauderdale that despite their mounting legal battles, the brothers remain innocent until proven guilty.
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“There’s a lot of opinions about us, a lot of things that go around about us on the internet,” he said. “We’ve yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives, ever. We have no criminal record anywhere on the planet, ever.”
But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was quick to announce publicly the brothers weren’t welcome in the Sunshine State.
David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney, said it’s unusual for a prosecutor to announce a criminal probe this early.
“When you get subpoenas and those sort of things, they’re supposed to be done in secret, because you’re doing an investigation,” he told Fox News Digital. “So for him to be so blatant about it, either he thinks he has a really, really strong case, or maybe something bigger is on the horizon.”
An attorney for the Tate brothers did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the brothers posted a two-minute video on X Wednesday morning dismissing the new probe as “revenge of the nerds.”
“Andrew Tate is super cool – everyone loves him, and a bunch of nerds who wanna be cool, who aren’t cool, are trying to drag me down,” the older brother said.
In the U.K., the brothers have been accused of failure to pay taxes, and Andrew Tate is expected to be extradited there on a charge of sexual aggression after the conclusion of his Romanian case, which remains ongoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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