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July 16 (UPI) -- The alpha male influencer Andrew Tate, who is criminally charged with human trafficking and rape in Romania, is seeking a U.S. defamation lawsuit against two of his accusers. McCue Jury & Partners, a British law firm representing four women who have initiated legal proceedings against him in London, said in a statement Friday that 36-year-old Tate and his brother Tristan were seeking the legal proceedings in the United States.
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"We are deeply concerned by these developments, which in our view amount to nothing more than a crude and malicious attempt to spread disinformation, disclose personal and private information, and attach those brave enough to speak out against their abusers," the lawyers said on behalf of the victims.
"We have experienced these attacks firsthand and had disinformation spread about us over social media, including claims that we do not exist. We stand in solidarity with all the alleged victims of the Tates and commend all those who have come forward to date."
Dani Pinter, senior legal counsel at the U.S.-based nonprofit National Center on Sexual Exploitation, told ABC News that the women, who have remained anonymous but have been uncovered by Tate's fans, have been targeted by the "troll army" online and in person.
A social media personality sympathetic to the Tates has also questioned one of the women's former romantic partners as private investigators knocked on their doors, Pinter said. Both women have also received threats of rape and death threats.
"It's incredibly oppressive," Pinter said. "Because they feel afraid for their safety and for their loved ones and for anyone they engage with, it's incredibly isolating. It's incredibly exhausting and frightening."
The Tates filed the lawsuit in Palm Beach County in Florida, claiming the allegations were fabricated, and seeking $5 million in damages for defamation.
"The same strategy that he used to indoctrinate thousands of young men created a readymade army of trolls," Pinter told ABC News. "So he's able to engage this mob to very quickly harass and target these women."
Andrew Tate and his brother were arrested with two other suspects in December on charges of human trafficking involving at least six women. He was moved from jail to house arrest in March.
Last month, Tate and his brother appeared in court in Romania. As he walked out, he said the brothers "are not the first affluent and wealthy men who have been unfairly attacked."Andrew Tate has been shut out of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for policy violations.
However, his Twitter account was reinstated after controversial billionaire Elon Musk purchased the company which has allowed him to maintain an online presence.
"I spent 3 months in a Romanian dungeon, and to this day remain locked in my house because I am accused of forcing girls to make TikTok videos for money. The girls themselves deny this. No money has ever been found," Tate said in a tweet last week.
"Then they said this was my only income source, and that's why they confiscated over 15,000,000 of my assets, despite never finding a single penny paid to me from TikTok. They could take any man alive who has two friends with TikTok accounts and do the same to him. Matrix attack."
