Two leading Senate Democrats launched an investigation this week after a ProPublica investigation revealed that White House officials intervened on behalf of pro-Trump influencer Andrew Tate, a former general counsel, and his brother during the federal investigation.
On Thursday, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Gary Peters sent a letter to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, calling the officer’s actions “brazen obstruction of a federal investigation” and demanding a full accounting of the officer’s activities.
ProPublica reported this week that the official, Paul Ingrassia, had directed top Homeland Security officials to return electronic devices confiscated when the Tate brothers arrived in the United States in February. Ingrassia said the request came from the White House, according to interviews and records reviewed by ProPublica.
The Tates are facing sex trafficking charges in three countries. Mr. Ingrassia serves as the White House liaison to DHS and the Department of Justice, and was part of the legal team representing them before taking the White House. Ingrassia had been nominated by President Donald Trump to be special counsel, but the administration withdrew his name after Politico reported that he had sent a series of racist text messages to other conservative activists. (His lawyer questioned the authenticity of the text, but said, “Even if the text is authentic, it clearly reads as self-deprecating, satirical humor.”) Mr. Ingrassia later received a job offer at the General Services Administration.
In a letter to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security, Blumenthal and Peters wrote that Ingrassia’s actions “raise serious questions regarding the independence and impartiality of federal law enforcement operations and the potential for the White House to intervene in these investigations.” The letter, first reported by Politico, asks whether Ingrassia’s decision to intervene was made at the direction of other White House officials, whether DHS officials were aware of the intervention, and what DHS did in response.
The senators gave DHS a Dec. 4 deadline to turn over records of all communications between Ingrassia and other officials discussing the Tate matter. They sent a separate letter to the DHS inspector general, asking him to open an investigation. Mr. Blumenthal of Connecticut is the ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Mr. Peters, of Michigan, is the ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Ingrassia’s intervention on behalf of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan raised concerns among DHS officials that they could interfere with the federal investigation if they followed directions, according to interviews and screenshots of contemporary conversations between officials.
The incident is the latest in a series of law enforcement matters in which President Trump’s White House has intervened to help friends and targeted enemies. Andrew Tate is one of the most prominent members of the so-called manosphere, a collection of influencers, podcasters, and content creators who helped turn young male voters to Trump.
It’s unclear why law enforcement sought to examine the Tates’ electronic devices, what their analysis revealed, or whether Ingrassia’s intervention impeded the investigation. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security declined to answer questions about the incident.
Joseph McBride, an attorney for the Tate brothers, told ProPublica he doesn’t know what happened to the equipment, but his customers have not yet returned it. He said the customer was innocent and his electronic devices did not contain any illegal substances.
Mr. Ingrassia worked in Mr. McBride’s office before joining the White House and was recognized as a member of the firm’s legal team representing the Tates. In a brief interview with ProPublica, he denied trying to help the Tates before hanging up. “There was no intervention. Nothing happened,” he said. “There was nothing.”
Ingrassia’s attorney, Edward Palczyk, said in a text message: “Mr. Ingrassia has never ordered the return of the Tate Brothers’ equipment and has never said, and will never say, that such an instruction came from the White House. This story is fiction and simply not true.”
Asked whether Mr. Ingrassia had requested rather than ordered the authorities to return the equipment, Mr. Palczyk refused to answer, explaining, “The word ‘request’ is inappropriate because it has no meaning in this context. Either he ordered something or he did not order something. And as I said, he did not order anything.”
No criminal charges have been filed against the brothers in the United States. Romanian authorities have accused the brothers of running a criminal ring that trafficked women, with some alleging that they tricked the women into believing they were romantically interested and in return forced them to film online porn videos. Prosecutors also said they are investigating the Tates for allegedly trafficking minors. Andrew Tate was charged with rape. The Tates deny the charges, and the original charges were sent back to prosecutors by the court over procedural issues.
The Tates face similar allegations in the UK. The country’s authorities authorized numerous charges against the brothers, including rape and human trafficking, based on complaints from three women. In 2024, arrest warrants were issued for the brothers, who denied any wrongdoing.
The Tate couple in Florida also accused a woman of luring her to Romania to force her into sex work. The Tates deny the charges, and last month a judge rejected most of her claims but allowed them to re-file the charges.
