Report: Ric Grenell Freaks Out on Congressional Staffer Over Tate Brothers Allegation

Openly gay Trump administration official Ric Grenell reportedly read a congressional staffer the riot act after House Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin asked about the government involvement in the Tate brothers coming to the U.S.

NOTUS reported that Raskin "wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and cc'd Grenell and Attorney General Pam Bondi..."

In the letter, Raskin "asked about the Trump administration's role in bringing to the United States Andrew and Tristan Tate – who were both on house arrest in Romania while awaiting trial on human trafficking charges," the article said.

In the letter, "Raskin noted that Andrew Tate openly said that he relocated from the U.K. to Romania because he'd be less likely to face rape charges there due to the country's stricter evidentiary standards," LGBTQ Nation said.

That notion might not have been entirely accurate, given that Romanian law enforcement arrested both brothers "on a variety of charges, including forming an organized criminal group to sexually exploit women in Romania, the United States, United Kingdom and other countries; human trafficking; the trafficking of minors; sex with a minor and money laundering," The 19th News recalled.

"Andrew Tate was also charged with rape."

"The brothers remained on house arrest until U.S. officials reportedly pressured the Romanian government to lift these travel restrictions over the objections of their alleged victims, Raskin wrote," LGBTQ Nation detailed. "On February 27, 2025, the brothers landed on a private jet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida."

In his letter, "Raskin laid out how Trump officials 'reportedly pressured the Romanian government' to lift travel restrictions so that the Tate brothers could come to the United States," NOTUS reported. "And then, with the brothers back on U.S. soil, 'Andrew Tate allegedly assaulted his girlfriend Bri Stern in Los Angeles,'" the site relayed Raskin writing.

The brothers' arrival in the U.S. was evidently too much even for some Republicans. Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis – notorious for the state's "don't say gay" law, which criminalizes acknowledgement of LGBTQ+ people in schools – decried the Tates and the allegations surrounding them, tweeting, "Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that type of conduct."

Raskin's query set Grenell off, the NOTUS article said, and the former diplomat reportedly "berated" a staffer over the letter.

Citing an unnamed source, NOTUS said that the onetime acting director of national intelligence claimed that "the letter was 'fucking fake news' and that 'you're going to ruin my reputation.'"

"Grenell – who the source said was 'worked up' – told the staffer he was 'going to go public' about the letter, the source said."

But Grenell – who now serves the Trump administration as the interim executive director of The Kennedy Center – denied having "berated" the staffer, telling NOTUS that their "characterization of this conversation is absolutely wrong."

Declared Grenell, "I would never say what he said I said."

"I sent an email to him too," Grenell went on to say. "Why don't you get that from him? I put my concerns in writing."

NOTUS reported that, according to the source, the email in question had Grenell asking whether Raskin "purposely [left] out the fact that the entire Romanian government said they were NOT pressured on this issue??!"

"Grenell also denied ever meeting with the Romanian foreign minister and said he declined a meeting when the minister asked for one," NOTUS added.

"When you push fake news like this, you only damage yourself," Grenell's email reportedly said.