Europe

SOURCES The Tate brothers left Romania directly for Florida on a private plane from Baneasa airport at five in the morning /Ten days ago Trump's special envoy intervened with the foreign minister in their favor

The Tate brothers left Romania directly for Florida on Thursday at five o'clock in the morning on a private plane from Băneasa airport, airport sources told G4Media.ro. Andrew Tate should have been under house arrest in the case concerning the alleged sexual exploitation of 34 women, after the Bucharest Court of Appeal upheld DIICOT's appeal. The Trump administration has pressured Romania to lift the restrictions of the Tate brothers, the Financial Times reported ten days ago.

It is unclear by the time the news aired whether the restrictions were lifted in the case of the Tate brothers and if so, who lifted them.

At the time, Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu confirmed to G4Media that there was a discussion in which US Special Envoy Richard Grenell mentioned the Tate brothers and his interest in them.

In fact, Richard Grenell reminded the Financial Times of his posts on X, the former Twitter, supporting the Tate brothers, accused in Romania of human trafficking, continuous rape and the establishment of a criminal group. They face a similar series of charges in the UK, and a week ago the first such charges appeared in the US as well.

Hurezeanu stated that there was a discussion in one of the halls of the conference, when the Romanian Foreign Minister initiated a dialogue with Trump's envoy to find out if Grenell intends to visit Romania.

”<<I'm interested, as you well know, in the fate of the Tate>> brothers, he replied. And so. Then, I asked him for another meeting because I wanted to know more about what he wants to do, what his intentions are in relation to Romania, but this meeting did not take place, Emil Hurezeanu told G4Media, emphasizing that the intervention of Richard Grenell about the Tate brothers left the impression of a continuous interest of Donald Trump's special envoy.

Background

The Financial Times reports that Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate, who have dual US and British citizenship, ”have become a famous cause in right-wing social media after being arrested in Romania in 2022 and accused of human trafficking, sexual abuse and money laundering, as well as initiating an organized criminal group”. The Tate brothers deny the allegations.

The Tate family case was first brought up by US officials in a phone call with the Romanian government and was then followed up by Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell when he met with the Romanian foreign minister at the Munich Security Conference, according to three people familiar with the matter quoted by the Financial Times.

A fourth person stated that the return of the brothers' passports had been requested and that they should be allowed to travel while awaiting the completion of legal proceedings.

The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emil Hurezeanu, refused to comment on the exchange of words with Grenell. His spokesman said Hurezeanu initiated the meeting and that the two „have known each other for a long time, as both were ambassadors in Berlin during the first Trump presidency.

The spokesperson did not comment on their specific discussions, but said:

„Romanian courts are independent and operate on the basis of the law, there is a fair trial”, the Financial Times also reports.

Grenell stated that he had „no substantial conversation” with Hurezeanu, who „saw me in the hol” in Munich and „asked for a meeting”:

„I support the Tate brothers, as evidenced by my publicly available tweets”, he added.

This month, Grenell wrote on X that Romania was „the latest example” of how funds paid by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were „used as a weapon against people and politicians who were not woke (radicals of the left, ed.)”.

The Financial Times also points out that Tristan Tate appealed to supporters to find out if USAID money arrived in Romania to finance investigations by apparently referring to his and Andrew Tate's cases.

The Tate brothers have millions of followers online in „manosphere” – online platforms aimed at young men who promote male superiority and reject the feminism – that played a role in Trump's re-election.

Tucker Carlson, a Trump ally and sympathizer of dictator Vladimir Putin and former Fox anchor, has done interviews with both brothers

Tristan Tate boasted X in November of his and his brother's role in the U.S. election, claiming that „million young people in Europe and the U.S. have a healthy right-wing approach to politics, which they would NOT have had if Andrew Tate had never appeared on their phone screens”.

The UK is also seeking the brothers' extradition after Bedfordshire Police obtained an arrest warrant as part of an investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking. A Romanian court decided last year that they can be extradited after there is a final decision in their case in Romania.

DIICOT prosecutors claim that brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate and members of the alleged criminal group formed around them recruited, starting in 2015, 34 women whom they forced to produce pornographic materials that were broadcast for a fee on profile platforms.

”The material benefits thus obtained by the defendants from the sexual exploitation of the victims were valued at over 2,800,000 US dollars and 887,000 token”, say the investigators from the fight against organized crime.

In August 21, 2024, DIICOT reported that brothers Tristan and Andrew Tate were detained for committing the crimes of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, money laundering, influencing statements and favoring the perpetrator.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal returned the file to the prosecutor's office, for the restoration of the criminal investigation, on December 19, 2024.