The Tate brothers, who recently traveled to the United States while facing human trafficking and sex related charges in their home country of Romania, may now be under federal criminal investigation in the U.S., according to a new civil lawsuit filing.
The filing, made in Palm Beach County, Florida, on behalf of four anonymous defendants being sued by Andrew and Tristan Tate seeks to pause a civil defamation case “until the United States federal investigation and/or prosecution by the Department of Justice for the Southern District of New York of Andrew and Tristan Tate has concluded.”
If accurate, the revelation of a federal investigation in the U.S. marks a new chapter in the brothers’ ongoing legal sagas, which spans two continents.
Danielle Pinter, an attorney at the National Center on Child Exploitation filed the motion. Pinter did not immediately respond to NBC News’ questions or request for comment.
Joseph McBride, attorney for the Tate brothers downplayed the significance of the motion, characterizing it as “pathetic delay tactics by a group of weak lawyers running from a fight in the Florida Defamation Case, because they know the evidence is overwhelmingly on our side.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.