Andrew Tate Lobbies Politicians, Plots From Jail

• Andrew Tate asked associates to help him gain political support for his release, per Reuters.
• The influencer also asked an associate to upload videos of an accuser partying to discredit her.
• Monday, a Romanian judge ruled Tate would stay in prison through March amid a trafficking investigation.

Influencer Andrew Tate has attempted to push his political influence in Romania over prison phone lines while seeking to discredit his accusers, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

According to transcripts of wiretaps obtained by Reuters, Tate arranged calls to several right-leaning Romanian politicians and asked his associate to spread videos of his accusers partying.

The calls highlight a streak of restless efforts by the popular misogynist influencer as Romanian authorities ruled that he and his brother would remain in jail through March as a human trafficking investigation into the pair and two others carried on.

On January 28, while in custody, Tate placed a call to two of his colleagues, requesting that they reach out to Romanian politicians George Simion and Diana Iovanovici-Sosoaca, to tell them it would be “very good for their careers,” to support him and claim he was framed.

“So make it clear to them: You will get a lot of votes when Tate says you took their side,” Tate told his associates on the call, according to Reuters. Reached by Reuters, the two politicians denied being contacted by Tate.

According to the report, Tate also made calls asking his associate he referred to as Luke to upload “party clips” of one of the alleged trafficking victims, purporting to show her dancing out in Bucharest.

“Yes, put them everywhere and say, ‘This girl says she is kidnapped when she is not kidnapped,'” Tate told Luke, according to Reuters.

“You’re saying you want me to discredit them, have social media pull hard, yes?” his colleague Luke asks, per Reuters. “Yes, screw them,” Tate responds.

Tate’s attorney did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.

Tate, his brother Tristan, and two Romanian women were arrested in December on charges related to a Romanian human trafficking and rape investigation into the four. They are accused of exploiting women in the country to produce pornography and are also facing a separate rape accusation.

Since his imprisonment, Tate has sent a cease and desist letter to an accuser, threatening to sue her for $300 million, and has claimed to have updated his will to set up a $100 million charity for men falsely accused of crimes.

He has also re-ignited a longstanding beef with influencer Logan Paul, who he has claimed is an “agent” of “The Matrix.”

Andrew Tate has monetized his views through his paid video subscription program “Hustler University,” where he has amassed millions of dollars and a legion of largely male followers, according to Buzzfeed News.

In an apparent message from jail shared with his subscribers on January 24, Tate claimed authorities were “trying to break me.”

 “Cockroaches, lice, and bed bugs are my only friends at night,” Tate said in the message.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or visit its website to receive confidential support.