Treasury Department investigating Michael Moore’s trip to Cuba

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WASHINGTON—Michael Moore’s upcoming healthcare documentary has veered into a controversy over Cuba sanctions after the Treasury Department began an investigation of the filmmaker for taking ailing Sept. 11 first-responders to the island.

In March, the Academy Award-winning Moore took his film crew and some 10 persons include those who became ill after inhaling toxic substances during Ground Zero rescue efforts to Cuba. His two-hour film, “Sicko,” is expected to go after the U.S. healthcare system. It premieres in the Cannes film festival May 19 and on June 29 in the United States.

Moore’s 2004 film “Fahrenheit 9/11” criticized President Bush over his handling of Sept. 11 and his “Bowling for Columbine,” about America’s gun culture, won an Oscar in 2002.

Most U.S. citizens are barred from going to Cuba unless they obtain a specific license from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Moore had applied for such a license in October, saying he was embarking on a journalistic endeavor, but OFAC never responded.

The Associated Press first reported the story, and Moore posted a copy of the OFAC letter on his Web site Thursday.

On Monday, Moore received a letter from OFAC requesting details about the visit and warning he may be subject to “enforcement action.”

Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise declined to comment on the investigation. She said sanctions for violating Cuba restrictions range from a warning letter to a $65,000 fine. The Bush administration has embarked on a much-publicized campaign to crack down on illegal travel to Cuba, though OFAC hands out few fines.

Even before “Sicko’s” release, Moore came under fire from opponents of Cuba’s communist government, which routinely showcases its healthcare system as one of the most efficient in the world.

“Again we see this Hollywood director interjecting himself in politics for the sake of promoting his films,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., in a statement. Comparing the Cuban and U.S. health systems is “preposterous” because top Cuban officials and tourists get better care than ordinary Cubans, she said, and jailed Cuban dissidents are denied any care at all.

“We might never know why Moore chooses to ignore the obvious and report the false,” the lawmaker added.

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who has been weighing whether to become a Republican presidential candidate, wrote in the National Review that he had “no expectation that Moore is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care.”

Both Ros-Lehtinen and Thompson pointed out that Cuban leader Fidel Castro had to fly in a Spanish specialist because of complications from his own intestinal ailment.

Moore’s office refused to discuss details of the trip or the movie, citing both legal issues and the need to protect the movie’s surprise elements. But according to a person closely involved with the movie’s production, the movie’s content may surprise critics.

A statement on Moore’s Web site says the movie will “rip the Band-Aid off America’s healthcare industry,” adding that “efforts of the Bush administration to conduct a politically motivated investigation” will not prevent Americans from seeing the film.

A master copy of the movie was shipped outside the United States, presumably to ensure the administration did not attempt to seize the film.