US investigates Michael Moore for travelling to Cuba

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Michael Moore

US filmmaker Michael Moore says an investigation into his recent visit to Cuba is an effort to single him out because of his history of criticism against the White House. Moore made the comments in a news conference in New York City on Monday.

The United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the agency that enforces the US trade embargo against Cuba, is investigating Moore for travelling to Cuba to film his latest movie Sicko without the required documentation.

Moore said he was travelling as a journalist and had a right to go there to make his movie. "I'm being singled out for this and that's why we're taking the action that we're taking", said Moore.

Moore travelled to Cuba with 9/11 rescue workers who said their ailments linked to the terrorist attacks couldn't be treated with the health care available in the United States. He said he filed the necessary paperwork to travel to Cuba as a journalist, but never heard back on his request.

OFAC letter

OFAC notified Moore in a letter dated May 2 that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the US trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. OFAC's letter to Moore noted that he had applied in October 2006 for permission as a full-time journalist to travel to Cuba, but that the agency had not made any determination on his request.

Moore says he is afraid the move is also an effort to block the release of the film.

The OFAC letter notified Moore that he was under investigation for possible violations of the US trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. US restrictions bar most Americans from spending money in Cuba, effectively preventing them from travelling there legally.

The restrictions also bar virtually all trade between the countries, except for some US sales of food and medicine to the island.

Moore's attorney David Boies said they filed a response to the government's investigation. "We are today filing our initial response and one of the things that we say in that response is that we say that this appears to be discriminatory treatment of Mr. Moore because of the content of his journalism and we ask for clarification on that, we ask them essentially to withdraw the harassment. If they do not do that then we're going to have to consider what legal action that we take to protect Mr. Moore's rights", said Boies.

The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May and premiers in US cinemas on June 29th.