The poltical hackery continues: Sham investigation of Moore (like DOJ has nothing better to do)

U.S. probes Moore's Cuba trip

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. government has launched a probe into whether maverick director Michael Moore, whose 2004 documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" skewered the Bush administration, broke laws when he went to Cuba for a new movie about U.S. health care.

U.S. citizens face "civil and/or criminal penalties" for unauthorized travel to the communist country, the U.S. Treasury Department warned in a letter to the Oscar-winning director that was posted on Moore's Web site on Thursday.

Dated May 2, the letter highlights federal concern that Moore went to Cuba in March without approval, and asks for details about travel dates, people on the trip and reasons Moore might qualify for a journalist's license to go to Cuba.

A spokesman for Moore declined comment on what the filmmaker was doing in Cuba, but said news reports about his taking victims of the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Centers there for health care were inaccurate.

In a response to the letter, Meghan O'Hara, the producer of the new film titled "SiCKO," said the probe was politically motivated.

Moore was not available for comment.

A Treasury Department spokeswoman declined to comment on any specific enforcement action against Moore.

The agency "issues hundreds of letters each year asking for additional information when possible sanctions violations have occurred," Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said.

U.S. restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba are an extension of the 1962 U.S. embargo against the communist country, and violating the rules can result in a prison sentence of up to 10 years or a $250,000 fine.

STOKING CONTROVERSY

An Oscar winner for the 2002 anti-gun documentary "Bowling for Columbine," Moore is well-known for works that attack corporations and politicians.

Released in an election year, "Fahrenheit 9/11" took a searing view of Bush's actions after the September 11 attacks, as well as the U.S. president's handling of the Iraq invasion.

The movie proved to be Moore's biggest hit, raking in $222 million at box offices worldwide amid a storm of publicity and controversy about presidential politicking.

"SiCKO," which premieres at this month's Cannes film festival in France, takes aim at the U.S. pharmaceutical and health-care industry. It opens widely in theaters on June 29.

Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in a statement that any review of America's health care system should be "balanced, thoughtful and well-researched."

"You won't get that from Michael Moore," Johnson said.

In May of 2004, headlines were made when reporters first learned that Walt Disney Co.'s chief executive at the time, Michael Eisner, barred the company's Miramax film division -- then run by Harvey Weinstein -- from releasing "Fahrenheit."

Like "SiCKO," "Fahrenheit" screened at Cannes in May and was released in June ahead of the U.S. Independence Day holiday by, among others, Weinstein and Lionsgate Entertainment -- two companies behind U.S. promotion and distribution of "SiCKO.

Moreover, the film's backers hired political strategist Chris Lehane, among others, to consult on "SiCKO." Lehane also worked on "Fahrenheit."

Original article posted here.