Andrew Tate says he is ‘innocent until proven guilty’ after landing in the US
Tate, alongside his brother, flew from Bucharest to Florida after a travel ban imposed on them during a human trafficking investigation was lifted.
Social media influencer Andrew Tate said he and his brother are “innocent until proven guilty” after landing in the US.
Tate, alongside his brother Tristan, flew from Bucharest to Florida on Thursday after a travel ban imposed on the pair during a human trafficking investigation was lifted.
The Trump administration reportedly pressed the Romanian government to lift travel restrictions on the brothers earlier this month.
Speaking to reporters outside Fort Lauderdale airport, Florida, Andrew Tate said he and his brother were “largely misunderstood” and criticised “media spin”.
He said: “We live in a democratic society where it’s innocent until proven guilty and I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood.
“There’s a lot of opinions about us, a lot of things that go around about us on the internet.
“We’ve yet to be convicted of any crime in our lives, ever, we have no criminal record anywhere on the planet, ever.
“Our case was dismissed on the 19th of December in Romania under the Biden administration, and our prosecutor recently decided, because we have no active indictment in court, to let us go and return.
“This is a democratic society.
“It’s supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, as my brother and I are, and I think it’s extremely important that we stop allowing media spin, wrap up smears, lies, or carefully constructed narratives from George Soros-funded operations trying to destroy the reputations of good people who have no intention to do anything other than follow the law.”
A spokesperson for the brothers said on Thursday that five properties, six cars, bank accounts and company shares had been returned to them by Romanian authorities, but some assets remained under “precautionary seizure”.
The statement said returned cars included two Audis, a Nissan, a Mercedes-Benz, and a Ferrari and that Andrew Tate’s 100% stake in “War Room Vegas” and Tristan Tate’s 50% stake in “SC Spirit House Enterprises” were also returned.
President Donald Trump has said he did not know anything about the brothers arriving in the US.
Asked if his administration pressured the Romanian government to release them, he said: “I know nothing about that. I don’t know, you’re saying he’s on a plane right now?
“I just know nothing about it. We’ll check it out. We’ll let you know.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer added: “There’s an English element here, so obviously it’s important justice is done, and human trafficking is obviously, to my mind, a security risk. And so we’ll catch up with the story.”
Romania’s anti-organised crime agency, DIICOT, said prosecutors had approved a “request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania”.
A spokesperson for DIICOT added: “These include the requirement to appear before judicial authorities whenever summoned.
“The defendants have been warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.”
Four women who have accused Andrew Tate of rape and coercive control and have brought a civil claim against him in the UK said the news has left them “retraumatised”.
In a joint statement, they said: “We are in disbelief and feel retraumatised by the news that the Romanian authorities have given in to pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel around Europe and to the US.
“We can only hope that the British authorities finally take action, do something about this terrifying unfolding situation and ensure he faces justice in the UK.”
The brothers were initially arrested in December 2022.
In Romania, the Tate brothers are facing allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.
A separate case against them, in which they are accused of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, has been sent back to prosecutors.
In the UK, Bedfordshire Police secured a European arrest warrant for separate allegations of rape and human trafficking.
Those allegations, which the two brothers “unequivocally deny”, date back to 2012-2015.
