WENN reports that controversial documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has posted an online response to the US Treasury’s probe into his recent trip to Cuba with a group of 9/11 rescue workers seeking treatment for exposure to toxic waste at Ground Zero. The Treasury is investigating the trip on the grounds that Moore may have violated the US trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba.
In his response Moore writes: “For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community. These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care. I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me – I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help, but until President George W Bush outlaws helping your fellow man, I have broken no laws and I have nothing to hide.”
The Cuban trip was part of Moore’s latest documentary Sicko, which blasts the American health-care system. It premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on 19 May. Moore’s previous film Farenheit 9/11 criticised the Bush administration, while his Oscar-winning documentary Bowling for Columbine focused on America’s obsession with guns.
