Andrew Tate Slams Florida Arrest as 'Kidnapping'

Social media influencers Andrew and. Tristan Tate are back in the headlines, back in the US, and back [music] in. cuffs. The pair were arrested over the. weekend in Miami as part of criminal. investigations that have now crisscross. the globe. Prosecutors in the UK are. asking for the Tate stopover [music] in. the US to be a quick one as they call. for extradition so the brothers can now. face dozens of charges. We have details. of what happened in a federal courtroom. today. Plus, [music] I'm going to be. speaking with a celebrity criminal. defense attorney, and I am bringing on a.

member of the US Marshall Service who. can [music] give us an inside peak as to. what the arrest of Andrew and Tristan. Tate look like. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Now, it has been a little bit since we. talked about Andrew and Tristan Tate, the self-described misogynistic social. media influencers who currently face. criminal charges in more than one. country. So, right now, as I'm recording.

this, the brothers are in federal. custody in Miami, Florida. They're going. to await a judge's decision on whether. they're going to be shipped back to the. UK to face sex crimes charges. So, you. have 39-year-old Andrew and 38-year-old. Tristan Tate. They're dual citizens in. the US and the UK. But for the past. couple of years, the two have been in. and out of Romanian jail cells. The two. had moved to Romania after criticizing. the lack of freedoms in other countries. online. In late 2022, Andrew and Tristan. were arrested along with two women. They.

were accused of luring women into sexual. exploitation and things like sex work. websites with promises of romantic. relationships or that the Tate brothers. would help them advance their influencer. careers. Andrew Tate has stated. repeatedly that there's zero evidence. against him, that there's some sort of. underlying conspiracy at work. They. spent time locked up in jail as well as. on house arrest before a court lifted. travel restrictions, gave them. permission last year to leave the. country, fly to Florida on a private jet.

before returning to Romania. And the. case in Romania is still ongoing, but. has hit a few procedural hurdles. according to local reporting. But at the. same time that they were facing. accusations in Bucharest, multiple women. in the UK also brought claims against. the Tates. And now these men are facing. dozens of charges there. So when they. landed in Miami on Saturday, this time. they were taken into custody on a sealed. warrant as part of an extradition.

request. According to the Crown. Prosecution Service in the UK, Andrew. and Tristan are being charged in. connection with four more alleged. victims and incidents that reportedly. occurred between 2010 and 2017. So, on. top of this laundry list of charges that. they were already facing, according to. reporting from the Guardian, they now. face dozens more. The CPS has charged. Andrew with seven more counts of rape, three counts of arranging or. facilitating trafficking for sexual. exploitation, three counts of assault.

with actual bodily harm, and 19. additional charges for offenses relating. to indecent images of a child and. extreme pornography. So, in all, per the. BBC, Andrew now faces a total of 42. charges in the UK. Tristan faces 17. The. head of the CPS special crimes division, this is Malcolm McCaffy, said these. charging decisions followed receipt of a. further file of evidence from Bedford. Shire police and bring the total number. of alleged victims in this case to.

seven. Now, attorneys for the Tates have. adamantly denied any wrongdoing. Lawyer. Joseph McBride did not mince words in a. lengthy statement, saying in part, "The. world knows Andrew and Tristan Tate are. innocent. Their enemies know it best of. all. that is exactly why they have been. attacked. He continued, "Understand what. Britain just did. There is a. long-standing agreement between the UK. and Romanian governments that the UK. would not seek extradition while the. Romanian proceedings are pending. Those. proceedings are ongoing right now. That.

agreement exists because no nation gets. to trample the judicial sovereignty of. another for political convenience. The. UK shredded its own word the moment it. became useful to shred it." That is who. they are. This extradition demand has. one purpose, to kidnap Andrew and. Tristan through paperwork before an. American jury exposes the truth to the. entire world. We are confident that once. a competent judge sees the facts that. once the Department of Justice confronts. this egregious abuse of its own. authority, Andrew and Tristan Tate will.

walk free. America does not do Britain's. political dirty work. Not here, never. R. McBride claimed in his statement that. the arrests were greenlighted by a. low-level functionary at the DOJ, but. the department reportedly told the. Associated Press that the arrests were. approved by leadership of its criminal. division. Matt Jury, who we've had on. this program before, a lawyer. representing four alleged British. victims, had this to say per the. Guardian. Quote, "Andrew Tate is now. facing the real prospect of extradition. to the UK after years of public. campaigning by the four British women I.

represent. They have spent years. fighting for action to be taken, and I. now urge the authorities to ensure this. case proceeds as quickly as possible. Andrew and Tristan Tate are accused of. some of the most serious offenses, including multiple counts of rape and. human trafficking. It is time they face. justice. The BBC has laid out the path. that these kinds of requests take. Right. The Crown Prosecution Office puts. together a request. It gets certified by. a judge. The final request is sent over. to the home office, which then forwards. it on to the US State Department. It's.

then considered by a court here in the. US and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. apparently would have the final say so. on extradition. And there have been. rumors in the past that the Tates who. have both shown support for President. Donald Trump could see his intervention. in their legal cases. But the president. has previously said he doesn't know. anything about the Tates cases. This is. according to reporting by Time magazine. However, I will tell you the outlet. reports that Donald Trump Jr. was. previously quoted saying the brother's. detention in Romania was quote absolute. insanity. Now, a barristister lawyer.

specializing in extradition law, Ben. Keith, told the Times in the UK that if. the Tates decide to fight the. extradition application, the case could. be tied up in the British legal system. for months. All right, I know this is a. little bit of a 180, but anybody out. there have a cat, this is an important. thing. You should listen up. Who doesn't. want their cat to be healthy and happy, right? Feeding them smalls, our [snorts]. sponsor, next best thing. Most cat food. out there, it's made with cheap fillers. and meat byproducts and artificial. ingredients. And your cat's health is.

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high-profile cases, high-profile. celebrities. I wanted his take on what. we should be thinking here. Take a look. So, Bradford, good to see you. Thank you. so much for taking the time. Um, this is. a big development. This is a big. development. They get arrested while. they're in Miami. They're now hit with. these additional charges on top of all. the other charges that were uh they were. facing. They have the Romania case. There's a potential investigation uh in. Florida. Just overall perception about. what happened over the weekend. >> Overall perception is, you know, essentially so they were in Florida,

they get arrested on this extradition. Uh they still have that pending case in. Romania. And that's what's going to be. so interesting about this extradition is. that there was an alleged agreement with. the UK for priority. And we often do. this with different states that might. have um different cases on individuals. So that's kind of where they are right. now. They have these pending cases in. Romania. They have pending cases in. England. This extradition is for the.

case in England that was going to be. essentially stayed until the Romanian. cases were resolved. >> Why would they want to fight. extradition? What is the concern about. going back to the UK? Is it that if they. go back to the UK um they may get um I'm. not particularly I don't particularly. know how the issue of bond works there, but could they be concerned that if they. go there they might not make bond and be. detained? um and uh be behind bars as. they await trial there. Is it let's.

fight it as much as we can here uh in. the United States? But I also don't know. how it works if they're fighting. extradition here. Do they remain. detained here uh in. >> So let's break down you said a lot. there. So let me break it down a little. bit. Okay. Yeah. So um yes, I think they. fight extradition because there was. number one there was this um alleged. long-standing agreement with UK that. they would not seek extradition while. Romania was pending. And I think someone. at maybe DOJ or someone else decided to.

submit this warrant uh to the magistrate. judge. The magistrate magistrate judge. signed off on it. Uh that's how a. warrant gets issued. That's how. extradition starts. Now that's phase. one. Phase two of why they would fight. extradition. Well, number one is because. of that agreement. And then number two. is because they would be remaining in. custody most likely on the transfer to. England. And they've already experienced. this in Romania, right? They were in. custody for like eight months or a year.

uh with charges not filed, then they. were filed, then some were dropped, some. were pending. They seized all their. items. I mean, the Romanian thing was a. little bit crazy in terms of how it took. place and how they weren't allowed to go. anywhere. So they are obviously are in. fear I would imagine of staying in. custody. Now how does it work in. extradition in the United States. generally? Generally you're not entitled to bond in.

terms of the extradition and how that. works is the 3184 18USC 3184 kind of. controls it right and we look at the. bond determination in are they a flight. risk? Are they a harm to society? they're not entitled to a bond and most. likely uh in cases like this individuals. are not awarded a bond. Now, why is. their case different? A couple things. Number one is they've been out. Nothing.

has happened. Uh society has been safe. Uh number two is they're well-known. personalities. If they wanted to run, they could have run. Uh they could have. gone to Vietnam. They could have gone to. indiv. zero extradition with anyone. Romania, America, England. They could have gone. to those countries. They did not. So the. flight risk argument I think is a little. weak. And then that third thing which is. really the most important to me is that. UK had an agreement that there was a.

priority for Romania. And the argument. essentially would be is that this was. kind of a rogue actor that submitted a. warrant and it was signed by a. magistrate and that magistrate, you. know, had no idea about any kind of. agreement with Ro with um the UK about. the Romanian incident. So they have a. multitude of things to address. What. it's going to come down to is. essentially uh the extradition hearing. and then also if the UK is willing to.

give them a kind of bond or some sort of. uh release from the extradition itself. and let them go to England on their own. accord. >> Um do you think the White House is going. to get involved? Why do I say that? So. Mr. McBride uh told reporters Monday, I. believe that Marco Rubio and the rest of. the Trump administration are not fans of. communism. They're not fans of. prosecuting people for free speech. So I. would just think as a matter of. principle based on the reasons why they. were elected that they would not want to. see two free citizens go to a country.

where they're going to be thrown in jail. for political reasons. >> So I I think that's interesting. I don't. know if the White House gets involved or. not or if they necessarily have to get. involved. Um I think there's going to be. email exchanges. is I think there's. going to be testimony about the UK. agreeing to forego any extradition until. the Romanian case is over. So I don't. know if it's going to be necessary, but. I also think there's going to be some. sort of fairness argument, right? If. they if the UK did agree, if the UK did.

agree to hold off until Romania was. done, which is not unusual. Uh a lot of. countries, a lot of states do this. Um. if you look at the Little Derk case, uh. he's got a case pending in Chicago. He's. got a case pending in California. They. they have to give some sort of priority. as to who gets him first. Um so there is. there is some case law and some good um. some good history on different countries. giving priority to those states. I don't.

those countries I don't think that. they're going to need to get involved. I. think it's going to be a DOJ issue and. it's going to be whether or not this. warrant was issued uh by error. essentially where they didn't know that. the UK had this agreement and someone. from DOJ is like wait a minute they have. a warrant out let's just submit it to a. magistrate which is unusual but does. happen. Uh I so I don't think the the. the White House necessarily is going to. have to get involved. Um, but I also.

think that these are unusual. circumstances and it's an unusual case. So, it wouldn't shock me if um, you. know, the Secretary of State got. involved in this type of case. >> I know the law is different. I know. charges are different, but what they're. facing in the UK, I want your impression. on. So, again, just to reiterate, Andrew. Tate is reportedly facing 42 charges. So, rape, human trafficking, indecent. images of a child and assault. Tristan.

Tate, 17 charges, right? Sexual assault, rape, trafficking. Um, you're looking at. about what, 59 charges between them. We. already know that they were facing rape. and human trafficking charges in the UK. from allegations from 2012 to 2015. These appear to be about investigation. regarding seven women that took place or. allegedly took place in the east of. England between 2010 and 2017. They're. also facing a civil lawsuit in the UK. from four women who have claimed that.

they were sexually assaulted uh by them. So just talk to me about the gravity of. these charges and how a defense attorney. approaches something. >> So the charges are are very serious. Obviously the allegations are very. serious. What the allegations in my. opinion do not show is these um the. lawsuits that have been pending and I. think there was a lawsuit in the United. States that was pending. I don't know if. it was dismissed. Um a lot of these. things have discovery on them and there.

has been um some movement in terms of. that the the stories weren't exactly how. these young ladies were saying these. stories were. So, how does a defense. attorney attack these things is exactly. how I'm saying it. You know, you you ask. about the incidents. You see if what the. evidence is, you see what kind of. evidence there is pending. Um if there. is extrinsic evidence, the witnesses. that allegedly were there or allegedly. the these individuals told soon.

thereafter or did not tell soon. thereafter. Why did it take from 2010 to. now for these allegations to come out? Why is there a lapse in time? All these. different things are questioned and we. try to find out the answers to these. things. You know, these the the. allegations are always horrible. The the. um you know the Shawn Combmes case, those allegations were horrible. Uh and. then he ended up getting a not guilty on. the majority of those of those charges. So, you know, everyone is in America at.

least, everyone is presumed innocent. until, you know, and after a trial has. has commenced. So, you you have that. cloak of innocence throughout the trial. and then until a jury finds whether or. not you are guilty or not guilty. So, when I look at these cases, the. allegations in all cases, you know, they. there's never good allegations in cases. They're always bad. sexual allegations. are some of the worst um because it goes.

to your reputation. It goes to your. being as opposed to you know if it's a. grand theft case, if it's something else. of those nature. You know when we think. of sexual uh assault cases um you know. you start to think is it a depraved mind. that you know it's like a murder case. and and how do we defend a murder case? the exact same way. You know, we we hold. the prosecutor to their burden and we. make them prove their case and if we.

have a defense to it, if we have. witnesses that were there that say. something to um uh the opposite of what. was going on, then we put them on. It's. like anything. And whenever I get a. case, everyone always says, "Oh, this. guy's cooked or this guy's cooked." You. know, I've had gun cases with DNA and. fingerprints and, you know, the gun was. found in the in the glove compartment of. the car he was driving in, and I still. get a not guilty. So, I don't know all. of the facts and circumstances of the. case. Um, and when we do, we'll find out.

what the defense is going to be. >> Would you be concerned about their past. comments online in interviews that it. could play a role in this case? case. I. think at the very least, even if you're. talking about here in the United States, an issue of jury selection, how you can. find a fair and impartial jury, um. because it's the difference between them. and other people who are ultimately. arrested um and charged. Sometimes it. comes out of nowhere. Sometimes like I I. don't know like I I didn't know anything. about Bill Cosby, right? Like I wasn't. in the circles for when he got.

>> But you like Jello. >> People were like, you know, some people. Yeah. Yeah. No, some people were like, "Oh my gosh, I knew him, you know, like. this is not a surprise." other people. like like what America's dad where'd. that come from? Andrew and Tristan Tate. now again they're innocent unless proven. guilty. But I have to ask like their. commentary I think I want I wonder if. that could be a complication for them. either a trying to get a fair and. impartial jury. I don't again I don't. know all the standards in the UK and how. the law works but also I just imagine I. wonder if that could be used as. evidence. So, it always um causes me.

concern when I'm representing someone of. note because there are always going to. be statements or there always going to. be something uh on the internet, especially now um even with people not. of note, you know, like but when I when. when I represent individuals uh. high-profile individuals, which I've had. many, um you know, it worries me about, you know, what they've said. And here's. what worries me more. sometimes is how. the prosecutors use it, how they twist.

it to use it. That happens a lot, too. Look at the rap lyrics that are being. used these days. And I've had cases. where state attorneys or federal uh uh. US attorneys have manipulated the words. to kind of fit their narrative or, you. know, change them completely. So, it's. the same thing with with rap lyrics. You. know, what does that worry me that the. guy's talking about? Hey, I carry a 45. and I slide the block. Of course, it. worries me because it's something that I.

know I have to address. So, it's going. to come down to is what they would use. and how they would use it. And I think. that should be really looked at, at. least in the United States. I've always. been a proponent for really narrowing. the scope of rap lyrics, narrowing the. scope of what an individual says because. we are a country in and we are a country. of freedom of speech. narrowing it so. that it is tailored to the actual case. An individual saying, "Hey, I don't like.

uh you know, women that uh are. promiscuous and then you know they're in. a sexual case and all of a sudden the. prosecutor wants to bring that statement. in for just kind of they'll say it's for. something else, but we know it's for. character evidence. You know, it really. shouldn't be allowed." So, yes. Does it. worry me? Yes. Does it concern me? Yes. It just depends on what the statement is. and how they would bring it in. >> I want to ask you one more point about. this. So, it's also being reported per.

uh CNN um that Florida's investigating. the brothers, that there's an active. criminal investigation and Florida. attorney general uh James Umeire posted. on X after it was announced the brothers. were arrested how the turntables dot dot. dot. How is this affecting any potential. Florida case or investigation? >> First, I don't even understand what the. tweet was. How the turntables I read. that myself and I was like, I think he. meant something. >> I thought it was like how the tables. turned, I guess. >> How the tables turn. I I don't know what.

he meant by that. >> Um, obviously, you know, listen, there's. if there's an active investigation, you. deal with an active investigation. I. don't take threats very well. I don't. take, you know, lawyers send me letters. all the time about their clients and. things of that nature. I really don't. care about letters. I don't care about. calls. I don't care about tweets. Like, you have a case, bring the case. You. don't have a case, then don't bring the. case and don't tweet about it. So, I I'm. I'm a guy who likes to punch people in. the face and and not tell them, "Hey, by.

the way, if you keep doing that, I'm. going to punch you in the face." LIKE, JUST DO IT. LIKE, either punch him in. the face or don't. So, to me, it's one. of those things that the threats mean. nothing to me. The actions mean more. than the threats. And if you have. something, then bring it. So, as we're. talking, my producer Savannah, who's. amazing, just goes, "It's a joke from. the office." So, Michael Scott Scott. says, "Oh, how the turntables. how the tables are." So, I guess he's. making a joke. >> I I'm not a uh I'm not, you know, too.

I'm not as hip as as James is for the uh. attorney general of Florida. He's way. hipper. He's way hipper than I am. I I. didn't understand it. I read it and like. maybe it's because I'm so old. I didn't. understand it. But it it's good to put. it in context. >> What am I supposed to say? I didn't know. what to put it in context. But still, like I said, I don't even make jokes. about like it's when you bring a case. against somebody or you're trying a. cases against someone. It's never a. joking thing. So, I've had prosecutors.

tell me, "Oh, this is going to be a fun. trial and it'll be good practice for. me." Like, you know, you you got. someone's life in your hands and it's. not practice. It's not a fun trial. It's. something that I take extremely. seriously. I think a lot of a lot of my. uh my my employees take it extremely. seriously. And you know, like I said, it's nothing to be joked about. So if. you have something, bring the case. If. you don't, you don't. >> All right, let's see where it goes. Bradford Cohen,

>> always the best. >> Okay, so now I want to bring on Emily. Maddox. So Emily is a member of the. United States Marshall Service, Regional. Affairs, Northern Europe, Office of. International Operations, and she is. going to tell us right now what the. arrest of Andrew and Tristan Tate look. like. How did this happen? What did we. not see from all the footage that came. down on social media? Here's Emily. >> Emily, thank you so much for taking the. time. So, first of all, just so our. viewers and listeners know, you were or.

you or you know someone that was a part. of the actual arrest of the tape. brothers, correct? >> Yeah, that's correct. >> And in what capacity? >> Right. So, I work for the United States. Marshall Service. Um, and our agency was. responsible for the conducting of the. arrest. um marshals assigned to the Southern. District of Florida and Miami were the. ones who affected the arrest on. Saturday.

>> Do can you give us background. information about how that happened and. when it happened and um the process by. which it happened? >> Sure. So the United States has a. extradition treaty with the United. Kingdom. Uh and pursuant to that treaty, there was an extradition request made by. authorities in the United Kingdom. Um. that request was then routed through. Department of Justice and once uh it was.

deemed. once once the request was approved then. it was referred to the Southern District. of Florida and a warrant was issued by a. federal judge in Miami. Once that. warrant was issued, then it was assigned. to the United States Marshall Service to. actually go out and effectuate the. arrest in that case. >> Why why at that time right as they were. going to this fighting event? Um is.

there strategy there? Is is there a. specific reason why it happened at that. moment? The reason as far as what I can share is. that that moment was. um publicly. information was publicly available that. um the Tate brothers were going to. attend that event um and so the decision. was made to to do it at that time. Is there a concern um by them as.

subjects high you know high-profile. wealthy um any is that factor into the. apprehension? >> Sure. Yeah, that always is going to. factor in as as well as many other. details. Um our priority is always going. to be to um affect an arrest as as. safely as possible. Um and so that's our. type top priority. in this case as in in others.

>> So, we saw video on social media, it. flooded social media, all these videos. of them being detained. What did we not. see? What what what was happening that. we didn't that wasn't captured by the. body cam in terms of how they were. arrested, how they were processed, um. what questions they were asked, how they. were checked. What's happening that we. don't see? So, the the big part that you don't see. is that legal process that I explained. uh before, the process of actually. getting to the point of a warrant being.

issued. Um, but in this case, the arrest. was very quick. Um, it was um there. there really were no issues there. Um, and so there really isn't a lot that's. happening there that that you don't see. How many uh how many different units are. assigned to an arrest like that? How. many different per me uh personnel? >> Right. So, it depends on the arrest and.

I don't have the number specifically. that day, but um the Marshall Service. task forces like the one in South. Florida are comprised of multiple law. enforcement agencies from the area. that. would include like Miami Police. Department as well as other federal, state, and local agencies that comprise. the task force members. Um, and so. several of them would have been present. that day. >> Gotcha. Look, I mentioned this before.

Um, and it seems like it's going to be a. big legal issue, fight of extradition. There is this treaty, right? there was. this agreement between the UK and. Romania that if there's an ongoing. Romanian proceeding that the UK can't, you know, issue the uh warrant or try to. get the extradition of the tape brothers. until the Romanian proceedings conclude. I don't know how much the US Marshall. Service gets involved in this, but is.

there is there a time when it comes and. says we can't do this because of Romania. or did that come up at all because of. Romania or Romanian authorities are. reaching out and saying we can't do this. um UK I'm sorry but there's a problem. here there's a conflict. >> right I can't speak to that specifically. um the authority that the United States. Marshall Service was acting on was the. federal arrest warrant issued by a judge. in the southern district of Florida. Um. so that is where the Marshall Service.

has our authority just like in any other. case where a arrest warrant is issued. Um the legal issues behind that um are. not really something that we get. involved in. >> Gotcha. Was there anything about their. arrest, them being detained? Did they. say or do anything that you can tell us. that. was of note? >> No. My understanding, even though I. wasn't there on scene, is that they were. cooperative um and that the arrest was.

conducted without any sort of incident. or um or or issues at all. >> No weapons on them or anything like. that? >> No. >> Okay. Um Emily, thanks so much for. taking the time. I think this is really. interesting and I wanted your. perspective on what we should be. thinking about as these kinds of arrests. happen and particularly this one. >> Sure. Thank you. Happy to be here. >> Okay. Okay, so like I said, there was a. hearing today, very, very brief. It was. in front of US Magistrate Judge Lauren. Lewis. Basically set another hearing for.

next Monday. Their attorney said they're. going to fight extradition. The brothers. came into court today. They were wearing. uh tan jail uniforms, handcuffs. This is. all per reporting uh from the Associated. Press. And look, this is the start of. what could be a very interesting and. possibly complicated extradition fight. The judge will have to determine whether. or not they meet the conditions of. extradition, whether or not, as we. talked about, the whole Romania aspect. of it will complicate it. So, we'll see. which way this goes and we'll keep a.

very careful eye on what happens between. now and next Monday. And of course, what. happens next Monday. And that's all we. have for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us and as always, please [music]. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your. podcast. You can also check us out on. NBC's Peacock. If you want to follow me. ex Instagram, my news nation show Jesse. Weber live Monday [music] through Friday. 11 pm Eastern. See you next time. everybody.