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US government questions Michael Moore over trip to Cuba to shoot film on free health care

Michael Moore, the provocative filmmaker who has made a career out of skewering automakers, gun enthusiasts and the administration of US President George W. Bush, is being investigated by the Treasury Department over a trip he made to Cuba for his new film, Sicko.

Earlier this month, the department sent a letter to Moore saying it was investigating whether he had violated restrictions on travel to Cuba when he accompanied sick workers seeking free medical care as part of a documentary on the US' health care industry.

On Moore's Web site, the film's producer, Meghan O'Hara, called the department's actions a "politically motivated investigation."

The ailing workers shown traveling to Cuba in the film had helped clean up the World Trade Center site after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The letter from the Treasury Department asked for detailed information about the trip, including evidence that Moore was employed as a journalist.

The government also sought the name and address of the travel agent who made the reservations, receipts and the names and addresses of all those who went on the trip. News of the letter was first reported by The Associated Press.

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

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

Chris Lehane, who was press secretary to Vice President Al Gore and has been retained by the Weinstein Co, the film's distributor, said the Treasury Department had been aware of the trip for a long time.

Harvey Weinstein, a co-founder of the company, said the timing of the letter suggested an attack by the Bush administration meant to discredit the film.

But Weinstein said: "They are only causing more publicity. It's so ironic. They should let sleeping dogs lie."

He said he was concerned that the Treasury Department would try to prevent the part of the movie shot in Cuba from being shown.

Sicko is set to open at the Cannes Film Festival in France next Saturday.
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