Michael Moore Facing Probe by Uncle Sam Over "Sicko"

Academy Award-winning director Michael Moore is facing a probe by the U.S. Treasury for traveling to Cuba with several ill September 11 rescue workers who were seeking medical care. The trip was filmed as part of Moore's health care documentary "Sicko, " which is slated to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19.

The Smoking Gun writes that Michael Moore is being investigated by the US Treasury Department for traveling to Cuba in violation of a U.S. trade embargo. In a May 2 letter, the Office of Foreign Assets Control informed Moore that he was the subject of a civil investigation stemming from the filmmaker's March trip to Cuba. The Smoking Gun has published a copy of the two-page letter from the U.S. Treasury to Moore.

In the letter, Dale Thompson, OFAC chief of general investigations and field operations, wrote to Moore, "This office has no record that a specific license was issued authorizing you to engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba."

The Australian Herald Sun says that the investigation provides another contentious lead-in for a provocative film by Moore, an outspoken critic of President Bush, whom he skewered over his handling of September 11 in Fahrenheit 9/11. In the past, Moore's adversaries have fanned publicity that helped the filmmaker create a new brand of opinionated blockbuster documentary.

The Associated Press reports that "Sicko" promises to take the health-care industry to task the way Moore confronted America's passion for guns in "Bowling for Columbine" and skewered Bush over his handling of Sept. 11 in "Fahrenheit 9/11."