'I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets,' says Trump's special envoy, Richard Grenell
The Trump administration is pressuring Romania into decreasing travel restrictions on Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, as they await trial on human trafficking, sexual misconduct and money laundering, according to a report published Monday.
Andrew Tate, a British American social media influencer who has proudly described himself as a misogynist, and his brother were arrested in Romania in 2022 and charged the following year with a scheme that involved exploiting seven Romanian women, seducing them and holding them against their will while filming them engaging in sex acts and selling the footage online.
The Tates have denied the charges.
Their case was first brought up by the Trump administration during a telephone call last week, and was followed up by Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell during a sit-down with Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu at the Munich Security Conference, three anonymous sources familiar with the matter told the UK-based Financial Times newspaper.
A fourth source said a request was made to return the Tate brothers' passports so they can travel abroad ahead of the conclusion of court proceedings.
Grenell told the Financial Times that he has "no substantiv conversation with Hurezeanu, and denied knowing him. He said he the Romanian foreign minister saw him in the hallway and "asked for a meeting," but said there was not additonal sit-down.
“I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets,” said Grenell.
In a Feb. 3 post on X, Grenell said "USAid programs were weaponized against people and politicians who weren't woke," claiming Romania "is the latest example."
"The Biden team spent US taxpayer money to support left wing programs and candidates around the world. Conservatives around the world were targeted," he wrote, without specifically mentioning Tate by name.
