A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s Attorney General isn’t backing down from his criminal investigation of Andrew and Tristan Tate, even as they may no longer be in the state.
“To the best of my knowledge, the Tate brothers are not in Florida right now. The investigation is still ongoing,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said while speaking to reporters in Tampa.
“These guys are charged with pretty horrific offenses around the world. There are victims that have come forward around the world and we’re looking at possible victims and possible conduct that may have taken place on Florida’s soil.”
The Tates, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, arrived recently in Fort Lauderdale after authorities lifted travel restrictions on the siblings, apparently with the blessing of the White House.
Their departure from Europe happened soon after Donald Trump envoy Richard Grenell reportedly met with a Romanian official earlier this year, seemingly easing the way for their return to the U.S.
Andrew Tate is notably close with tech impresario and DOGE kingpin Elon Musk, who would like to see him lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister.
Uthmeier said the investigation was not a “political persecution,” but a move to protect Floridians from the brothers, who have not been formally convicted of any crime.
“We didn’t want these guys to come here. I don’t know how they got here, but at the end of the day, if you’re here and you’re a criminal, if you’re going to engage in activities that go after women, that go after our kids, we’re going to come after you,” Uthmeier promised.
The AG spotlighted jokes about the age of consent from the controversial duo.
“They’ve gone public, you know, joking around saying, ‘Oh, what is the age of consent in America: 15, 16, 17, oh, we can’t remember.’ That’s absurd. That is horrific. And anybody that’s going to defend, you know, that practice is on the wrong side of me, that’s for sure. If you are soliciting and trafficking minors in our state, you belong in the dark, cold back of a jail cell,” the Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee said.
Upon their arrival, DeSantis said the Tates were not “welcome” in Florida. DeSantis also said Uthmeier was seeing “what state hooks and jurisdiction we may have to be able to deal with this.”
Uthmeier suggested that the hooks may be limited.
“We’re never going to bring any case without evidence to back it up. You have that commitment for me. It seems like they’ve done some pretty gross things in other countries. I don’t have jurisdiction there, but if there’s evidence that they committed a crime in Florida, we will pursue that further,” Uthmeier vowed.
The Tates were at the UFC event in Las Vegas over the weekend. Their ultimate plans to return to Florida are unknown, meanwhile.
“I’m going back to Romania in a few days anyway,” Andrew posted shortly after news of the probe came out.
He followed that up with a “see you in a few years” statement Thursday morning. But he later promised to buy a condo in Miami and live in Florida.
Both Andrew and Tristan Tate have repeatedly argued that they are guilty of no crime and have contended the prosecution of them in Romania was merely political and not grounded in evidence.
