Allegations that a Donald Trump aide with “Nazi” tendencies secretly intervened to help a notorious alleged sex trafficker have triggered fears the Trump administration could jeopardize justice for the man’s victims.
Lawyer Paul Ingrassia—who is a White House official despite a scandal-hit political history that includes making far-right comments—allegedly directed senior Department of Homeland Security officials in February to return electronic devices seized from his former client, Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristan, 37, when they landed in the United States from Romania, where they live.
The devices had been confiscated by Customs and Border Protection from the misogynist MAGA-supporting British-American influencers, who have faced multiple investigations in Romania, the U.S., and the U.K., for human trafficking and rape.
But Ingrassia reportedly made a behind-the-scenes White House push to have them returned, amid frustration from career agents, per ProPublica.
Matthew Jury, managing partner at law firm McCue Jury & Partners, which represents alleged British victims of Tate, told the Daily Beast the revelations strengthened their long-held concerns about U.S. interference in the case.
“This only validates our concerns that the U.S. Government interfered with Romania’s due process,” Jury said. “However, it prompts a new question: whether the White House’s seemingly relentless willingness to support the Tates will influence the U.K. government in fulfilling its own obligations to hold Tate to account.
“Do trade deals trump justice? Given inaction, Tate’s alleged U.K. victims deserve to know what steps the British authorities are taking to secure the Tates’ extradition and prosecution in an English criminal court.”
Jury represents four British women who are suing Tate at London’s High Court over alleged sexual violence and coercive control. A judge has brought the 16-day trial forward to start on June 22, 2026.
The women turned to civil action after the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided in 2019 not to bring criminal charges on their allegations, according to Jury.
Separately, British prosecutors have authorised 21 criminal charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate, 37, including rape and human trafficking, and secured an extradition order from Romanian courts. But Romania has ruled the brothers will only be sent to Britain once domestic criminal proceedings conclude, the CPS told Reuters in May.
The Daily Beast contacted the White House, DHS, the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, and the U.K. Home Office and CPS. The CPS declined to comment.
The Tate brothers deny all wrongdoing.
The post Alleged Victims Fear White House Will Halt Sex Trafficking Trial appeared first on The Daily Beast.
