Before the Cannes film festival last month, Michael Moore shot back at the U.S Treasury and released Treasury’s letter demanding information about the trip he made to Cuba in connection with his new documentary, Sicko.
Now, in advance of the film’s June 29 release, Moore and his lawyer claim that the feds are investigating him because of his political views.
The big guy should stop whining as he basks in his government-generated, box-office-generating publicity.
Treasury has investigated and/or fined a grandmother who toured Cuba on bicycle, a son who spread his deceased father’s ashes at the church his Dad had built in Cuba, student groups, and many more.
It’s not about you, Michael. It’s about a general policy that restricts travel of all Americans.
Moore can afford to pay a fine for his unlicensed trip, if it comes to that. If he wants to shine a spotlight more constructively on the policy that affects him and everyone else, he can demand a hearing before one of Treasury’s administrative law judges, and publicize that.
While I understand the urge, perhaps it's not quite as simple as your assume. The "whining" is a legal brief that is required and indeed has some merits. The first is that they asked for permission as journalists and never got a response (I don't know about timeframes). The second is that most who get fined are caught at the airport somewhere. Moore was written a letter without being physically caught (as far as i know). I know another filmaker who asked for permission, got denied, went anyways and had no trouble (the film was anti-Castro). I doubt it was overtly political, but more about Moore's high profile.
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