Blumenthal & Peters Launch Inquiry into Trump Staffer Paul Ingrassia's Interference in Federal Investigation of Andrew & Tristan Tate

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, yesterday launched an inquiry into Trump staffer Paul Ingrassia’s interference in a federal investigation of alleged rapists and human traffickers Andrew and Tristian Tate. This week, ProPublica reported that Ingrassia, while serving as White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), personally intervened in a federal investigation of the Tates, who are facing multiple criminal and civil charges of sex trafficking and rape in three different countries.

In letters sent to White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, White House Counsel David Warrington, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Blumenthal and Peters requested all records and communications regarding Ingrassia’s actions. In a letter to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, Blumenthal and Peters called for the Office of the Inspector General to open an investigation into Ingrassia’s conduct and whether his interference in the Tate investigation occurred at the direction of the White House.

“After Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized the Tate brothers’ electronic devices upon their February 2025 arrival in the United States, Mr. Ingrassia reportedly reprimanded DHS officials for doing so and directed them to return the devices to them. Mr. Ingrassia reportedly made clear to the DHS officials that this demand was coming directly from the White House,” the Senators wrote to Wiles and Warrington.

The Senators raised concerns about Ingrassia’s preexisting relationship with the Tate brothers: “Mr. Ingrassia’s alleged actions in this case constitute a brazen interference with a federal investigation in an apparent attempt to provide favorable treatment to individuals with whom he has a preexisting relationship. Prior to joining the Administration, Mr. Ingrassia had been a member of the legal team representing the Tate brothers. Additionally, Mr. Ingrassia has heaped extensive praise on the Tate brothers in statements and social media posts.”

“Mr. Ingrassia’s behavior raises grave questions regarding the independence and impartiality of federal law enforcement operations and the White House’s potential meddling in such investigations. Mr. Ingrassia’s reported actions may have violated government ethics rules and other legal standards of conduct. Moreover, appallingly, this alleged conduct would mean that the White House allowed a self-proclaimed ‘Nazi’ to intervene in a federal investigation to protect indicted rapists and child sex traffickers. If this behavior is not examined and addressed, it could dangerously undermine the independence, legitimacy, and effectiveness of DHS law enforcement operations and implicate the White House as complicit in the most heinous crimes and hateful ideologies imaginable,” the Senators concluded.

The full text of Blumenthal and Peters’ letter to the White House is available here and below. Similar letters sent to Secretary Noem and Inspector General Cuffari are available here and here.

November 20, 2025

VIA EMAIL

Susan Wiles

Chief of Staff

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

David Warrington

White House Counsel

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Ms. Wiles and Mr. Warrington,

On November 18, 2025, ProPublica reported that Paul Ingrassia, while serving as White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), personally intervened in a federal investigation of the online influencer brothers and alleged rapists and human traffickers, Andrew and Tristan Tate.^[1] After Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers seized the Tate brothers’ electronic devices upon their February 2025 arrival in the United States, Mr. Ingrassia reportedly reprimanded DHS officials for doing so and directed them to return the devices to them.^[2] Mr. Ingrassia reportedly made clear to the DHS officials that this demand was coming directly from the White House.^[3]

The individuals whom Mr. Ingrassia reportedly intervened to assist, Andrew and Tristan Tate, are extremist online media personalities facing multiple criminal and civil charges of sex trafficking and rape in three different countries.^[4] Andrew Tate is a self-described “misogynist”^[5] who has said that women “are given to the man and belong to the man,”^[6] and should “bear some responsibility” for being raped.^[7] Mr. Tate has also questioned whether the Nazis were really the “bad guy[s]” of World War II.^[8] Mr. Tate and his brother, Tristan, have been indicted in Romania for human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women;^[9] charged in the United Kingdom with 21 counts of sex crimes, including rape, actual bodily harm, and human trafficking;^[10] sued for sexual assault in California^[11] and the United Kingdom;^[12] and placed under formal investigation for potential crimes in Florida.^[13]

Mr. Ingrassia has his own history of deeply troubling conduct. He has reportedly described himself as having “a Nazi streak” and insisted that “[w]e need competent white men in positions of leadership” because “[t]he founding fathers were wrong that all men are created equal.”^[14] Mr. Ingrassia has made countless other bigoted and incendiary remarks, including, according to reports, that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell,” that he would “[n]ever trust a chinaman or Indian,” and that the October 7^th attack on Israel should be dismissed as a “psyop.”^[15]

Mr. Ingrassia’s alleged actions in this case constitute a brazen interference with a federal investigation in an apparent attempt to provide favorable treatment to individuals with whom he has a preexisting relationship. Prior to joining the Administration, Mr. Ingrassia had been a member of the legal team representing the Tate brothers.^[16] Additionally, Mr. Ingrassia has heaped extensive praise on the Tate brothers in statements and social media posts. For example, he called Andrew Tate “an extraordinary human being” whose “physical prowess” and “willpower and spirit” make him “the embodiment of the ancient ideal of excellence.”^[17]

Mr. Ingrassia’s behavior raises grave questions regarding the independence and impartiality of federal law enforcement operations and the White House’s potential meddling in such investigations. Mr. Ingrassia’s reported actions may have violated government ethics rules and other legal standards of conduct. Moreover, appallingly, this alleged conduct would mean that the White House allowed a self-proclaimed “Nazi” to intervene in a federal investigation to protect indicted rapists and child sex traffickers. If this behavior is not examined and addressed, it could dangerously undermine the independence, legitimacy, and effectiveness of DHS law enforcement operations and implicate the White House as complicit in the most heinous crimes and hateful ideologies imaginable.

To assist the Committees’ understanding of potential White House involvement in protecting known sexual predators, please provide the following information to the Committees by December 4, 2025:

1. Was Paul Ingrassia’s decision to intervene on behalf of Andrew and Tristan Tate made on his own volition or at the direction of White House personnel?
1. If the former, when and how did White House personnel become aware of Mr. Ingrassia’s representation that he was acting at the direction of the White House?

1. 1. 1. What actions, if any, did the White House take in response to Mr. Ingrassia’s conduct, and when?

2. If the latter, who instructed Mr. Ingrassia to intervene, and why?
1. Who at the White House was aware of Mr. Ingrassia’s intervention on behalf of Andrew and Tristan Tate?

In addition, please produce the following records^[18] on or before December 4, 2025:

3. All communications between White House personnel and any current or former DHS personnel, including but not limited to Mr. Ingrassia, referring or relating to Andrew or Tristan Tate.
4. All internal White House communications referring or relating to Andrew or Tristan Tate.
5. All White House communications with third parties referring or relating to Andrew or Tristan Tate.
6. All communications referring or relating to Mr. Ingrassia’s instructions to DHS personnel on behalf of Andrew and Tristan Tate, including communications referring or relating to any steps taken to address this conduct.

Please contact the Committees should you have any questions about responding to these requests. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

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