A ProPublica investigation suggests the White House intervened in unprecedented fashion on behalf of the controversial Tate brothers when their phones were seized by Customs and Border Protection officials. The seizure happened in February when Andrew and Tristan Tate, vocal supporters of President Trump, flew in to Florida from Romania.
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"Interviews and records reviewed by ProPublica show that a White House official told senior Department of Homeland Security officials to return the devices to the brothers several days after they were seized. The official who delivered the message, Paul Ingrassia, is a lawyer who previously represented the Tate brothers before joining the White House, where he was working as its DHS liaison."
"I've never heard of anything like that in my 30 years working," John F. Tobon, a retired assistant director for Homeland Security Investigations, tells the outlet. "For anyone to say this request is from the White House, it feels like an intimidation tactic." Another anonymous official criticized the "brazenness" of the request. Much remains murky about the entire incident, including why the phones were seized in the first place, whether the request hampered any investigation, and where the phones are now—a lawyer for the brothers says they never got them back. The Tates face sex-trafficking allegations in three countries, but they have not been charged in the US.
The White House and DHS declined to comment on the specifics. Ingrassia himself denies any wrongdoing. "There was no intervention. Nothing happened," he said. "There was nothing." His lawyer insists his client did not "order" that the phones be returned, but declined to specify whether Ingrassia at least asked that they be returned. Ingassia has been in the news recently because he told fellow young conservatives in a group text that he had a "Nazi streak," a line that got his nomination to the Official of Special Counsel pulled. Read the full story.
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