US secretary of state responds after Andrew and Tristan Tate vow to fight extradition to the UK
The US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said the White House has ‘no role’ to play ‘at this moment, or maybe ever’ in the extradition of influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate to the UK.
The social media influencers, who hold dual US and UK citizenship, were arrested in Miami at the weekend by US Marshals after British authorities issued 38 new charges against them.
On Monday, the brothers appeared at a Miami courthouse marking the start of the extradition proceedings.
In the coming weeks, a US district judge will consider whether they meet the conditions for extradition.
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Speaking outside of court, their lawyer Joe McBride said that his clients would ‘fight extradition’.
He also appeared to suggest that President Donald Trump could get involved in the case.
He added: “I can’t comment directly on what my president is going to do. All I can say is he was elected to fight against this kind of nonsense, and I can’t see him looking at this with an objective lens and agreeing to a political witch hunt and a political kidnapping.”
However, now US secretary of state Rubio has said the case will simply be allowed to play out in court.
Rubio said: “These cases have a process that they go through in the courts.
“My understanding is that they’re involved in that judicial process and so that’ll play itself out at this point.
“There’s no role for us to play at this moment or maybe ever in that regard.
“But I’m not going to opine on something that’s still working through a legal process.”
A senior Trump administration official also told Axios: "The US has an extradition treaty with the UK and the administration intends to honour it in this case.”
Following reports that Donald Trump would not intervene, McBride told the Press Association the POTUS’s involvement was ‘not necessary’ anyway.
McBride said: “We’re in a court of law. We need to be respectful of the court that we’re in, and we believe that we’re going to go in there, we’re going to get a fair fight and that we’re going to win on the merits of our case.
“If Donald Trump parachuted in today from Air Force One and said ‘Stop everything’, like it would be a win for us, but we would not have won on the merits. So right now… we’re not even asking for help.”
The extradition fight comes after the CPS said announced 38 additional charges, in addition to 21 existing charges, relate to alleged offences between July 2010 and August 2017.
Andrew Tate, 39, was charged with seven further counts of rape, three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and 19 additional charges for offences relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.
Tristan Tate, 38, was charged with one count of sexual assault, two counts of rape and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the 38 additional charges, in addition to 21 existing charges, relate to alleged offences between July 2010 and August 2017.
The brothers have denied any wrongdoing.
Topics: US News
Claire Reid