MIAMI — Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate appeared before a federal magistrate in Miami on Monday for the first time since they were arrested to face rape and sex trafficking charges in the United Kingdom.

The Tates have been held in federal detention following their arrest on Saturday. In the coming weeks, a U.S. district judge will consider whether they meet the conditions for extradition.

An attorney for the brothers, Joseph McBride, has blasted the charges as “filth and slander,” as well as “salacious and defamatory.”

Prosecutors in Britain said the new charges relate to four new victims and were brought after authorities received evidence from Bedfordshire Police in southeastern England. The allegations, spanning 2010 to 2017, include rape, assault, trafficking and offenses relating to “indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.”

The brothers are already charged with rape, bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain relating to three other alleged victims in the U.K. between 2012 and 2015.

Their lawyer said in a statement Saturday that he believed the arrests were “greenlighted by a low-level functionary” at the Justice Department without input from leadership.

But the Justice Department told The Associated Press that the arrests were approved by leadership of its Criminal Division.

McBride, outside of the Miami federal courthouse, said he plans to fight extradition on the Tates’ behalf.

“We are going to fight them at every turn, and at every corner, because they are American citizens,” McBride said.

McBride claims the new allegations are politically-motivated.

“I’ve never seen evidence that indicates these guys are guilty of anything,” he said. “They are being punished and attacked for what they say and not for what they have done. You can love them, you can hate them, but nobody should go to jail for free speech.”

Taking a swipe at the U.K., McBride said, “We will make sure that we exhaust all remedies before they are sent over to the communist regime previously known as the free place of the United Kingdom.”

McBride, explaining his ties representing people in Jan. 6 cases, implied that he believes President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be sympathetic to the case.

“I believe that Marco Rubio and the rest of the trump administration are not fans of communism, for prosecuting people for free speech, this is one of the reasons why they were elected,” he said, noting that after the Jan. 6 prosecutions, “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 are going to be thrown in jail for political reasons.”

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “If the court finds the fugitive to be extraditable, it certifies the extradition and sends the record to the Secretary of State, who decides whether to surrender the fugitive.”

Former federal prosecutor David Weinstein said even though the charges the Tates face are not considered “political offenses” by definition, under the extradition treaty, “the executive branch of the U.S., including the president, can block the extradition request if they determine that the request was politically motivated.”

“So yes, President Trump is able to help prevent an extradition to the U.K. if he wanted to,” Weinstein said.

The new allegations are the latest in a long-running international legal saga involving the Tates that has spanned the U.S., Britain and Romania. The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Their social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities.

The dual U.S. and British citizens moved to Romania in 2016. They were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations and the Romanian case hasn’t gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.

Last year, they were allowed to leave Romania and flew to Florida.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.