This follows Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ declaration that the divisive influencers were not welcome in the state.
A criminal inquiry into the contentious social media gurus Andrew and Tristan Tate has been announced by US authorities.
Attorney General James Uthmeier of the US state of Florida announced Tuesday that he has directed his office to “conduct a preliminary inquiry” into the brothers by “working with our law enforcement partners”.
The Tate brothers are on trial in Romania for allegedly running a criminal ring that enticed women to the nation for sexual exploitation. They arrived in Fort Launderdale, Florida on February 27 after Romanian officials lifted their travel ban against them.
“After carefully examining the evidence, I have instructed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to issue subpoenas and carry out search warrants in the ongoing criminal investigation into the Tate brothers”, Uthmeier stated.
Due to their opulent lifestyle, hyper-masculine persona, and misogynistic discourse, the Tates, who hold dual US and British citizenship, have millions of largely young, male followers on social media.
Due to their hate speech, which included implying that women should be held accountable for sexual assault, the brothers have been banned from a number of websites.
The Tate brothers, together with two Romanian women, were officially charged with sex trafficking last year after being detained by Romanian officials in late 2022. Andrew Tate is also charged with rape.
British officials have also requested the brothers’ arrest on rape and human trafficking accusations in a different probe.
All of the accusation against the Tate brothers are denied.
While they looked into the matter, Romanian officials had banned the Tates from traveling.
On Thursday, however, Romanian officials had banned the Tates from traveling.
The Tates, who have been outspoken supporters of US President Donald Trump, returned to the US last week on a private jet amid allegations that White House officials pressured Romanian authorities to free them.
During his brief hallway meeting with Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, at the Munich Security Conference last month, Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu stated the brothers were brought up.
Radu Marinescu, the justice minister of Romania, has disputed that their release was influenced by pressure from the United States.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis declared the brothers were not welcome in Florida when they arrived there last week.
He told reporters, “You’re not welcome in Florida with that kind of behavior”.
“I’m not sure how this happened. As he urged the attorney general to investigate if state authorities may have any jurisdiction over any of their alleged offenses, DeSantis continued, “We were not involved, we were not notified”.
In response, 38-year old Andrew Tate claimed DeSantis had a right to travel to his own country and accused him of giving into pressure from the media.
He went on to say that he had never been charged with a crime, much less found guilty, and that he had broken no laws.
