|
Moore's
lawyer claims discrimination
By David Germain, AP Movie
Writer, June 11, 2007.
LOS ANGELES -Michael Moore's attorney said
Monday that the filmmaker's criticism of
the Bush administration may have prompted
a federal investigation into his trip to
Cuba for the upcoming health-care documentary,
"Sicko."
In a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department's
Office of Foreign Assets Control, attorney
David Boies noted that Moore has been a
critic of President Bush in his books and
films, which include 2004's "Fahrenheit
9/11," a harsh indictment of White
House actions regarding the Sept. 11 attacks.
"For this reason, I am concerned that
Mr. Moore has been selected for discriminatory
treatment by your office," Boies wrote
in response to a letter sent to Moore last
month from Dale Thompson, OFAC chief of
general investigations and field operations.
The OFAC letter notified Moore that he
was under investigation for possible violations
of the U.S. trade embargo restricting travel
to Cuba.
A copy of Boies' letter was obtained by
The Associated Press in advance of an afternoon
news conference at the attorney's New York
office by Moore, Boies and Harvey Weinstein,
co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., which
is releasing "Sicko" on June 29.
"I am requesting that you provide
to me information regarding the person or
persons who participated in making the decision
to send Mr. Thompson's letter, the nature
of the discussions that took place, and
the knowledge your office had of Mr. Moore
and his trip to Cuba at the time the letter
was sent," Boies wrote.
Moore went to Cuba in March to obtain health
care for three ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers.
He claims in the film that the U.S. government
had left the workers to fend for themselves
on ailments that resulted from their work
at Ground Zero.
Last fall, Moore had asked the Treasury
Department for permission to go to Cuba
under U.S. rules permitting travel there
by journalists. OFAC's letter noted that
Moore went to Cuba without having gotten
any response from the office.
|
