TIMING IS EVERYTHING: MOORE FACES US TREASURY PROBE JUST AS WEINSTEINS HIRE SPIN STRATEGIST (AP, VAR)

By Nancy Vialatte

Michael Moore is under investigation by the US Treasury Department for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in the upcoming health-care documentary "Sicko," The Associated Press reported early this morning.

The investigation provides yet another contentious lead-in for a film by Moore, a fierce critic of the current administration. "Sicko" will take the health-care industry to task in much the same way Moore confronted America's passion for guns in "Bowling for Columbine" and skewered Bush in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Moore received a letter from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control which was dated May 2 and which said it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the US trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba.

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

In February, Moore took about 10 ailing workers from the Ground Zero rescue effort in Manhattan for treatment in Cuba, said a person working with the filmmaker on the release of "Sicko." The person requested anonymity because Moore's attorneys had not yet determined how to respond. (AP)

Moore received the letter Monday, just two weeks ahead of "Sicko�s" Cannes world premiere. The letter said that Moore had applied Oct. 12, 2006, for permission to go to Cuba "but no determination had been made by OFAC."

After receiving the letter, Moore arranged to place a copy of the film in a "safe house" outside the country to protect it from government interference, said the person working on the release of the film. (AP)

Although no penalties were indicated, the AP notes that in 2003, the New York Yankees paid the government $75,000 to settle a dispute that it conducted business in Cuba in violation of the embargo.

Moore's opponents have accused him of distorting the facts, and his Cuba trip provoked criticism from conservatives including former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson, who assailed the filmmaker in a blog at National Review Online. "I have no expectation that Moore is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care," wrote Thompson, "I defend his right to do what he does, but Moore's talent for clever falsehoods has been too well documented." (AP)

The timing of the investigation is reminiscent of the firestorm that preceded the Cannes debut of "Fahrenheit 9/11," which won the festival's top prize in 2004. The Walt Disney Co. refused to let subsidiary Miramax release the film because of its political content, prompting Miramax bosses Harvey and Bob Weinstein to release "Fahrenheit 9/11" on their own.

In related news, the Weinstein Company have brought aboard political strategist Chris Lehane as a consultant. Lehane and Ken Sunshine will travel to Cannes with Moore and the film to run interference should the health-care industry lash out following the film�s bow.

Lehane previously served as a press strategist for the release of Moore�s "Fahrenheit 9/11" in 2004. Lehane was also Al Gore's press secretary during his the 2000 presidential run and served as a White House spokesman and lawyer for President Clinton.

"If the HMOs strike, I'm going to need two guys who can strike back," Harvey Weinstein told Daily Variety Wednesday.

Weinstein's hiring of Lehane and Sunshine seemed timely on Wednesday, the same day Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America senior veep Ken Johnson issued a statement bashing Moore's "Fahrenheit" follow-up. "A review of America's health care system should be balanced, thoughtful and well-researched," the news release stated. "You won't get that from Michael Moore. Michael Moore is a political activist with a track record for sensationalism. He has no intention of being fair and balanced." (VAR)