BREAKING: Trump admin subpoenas Hasan Piker, CodePink’s Susan Medea Benjamin over Cuba journey
The Requests for Information from the FBI “seek financial, logistical and communications information revolving around trips the two widely bragged about making to the island nation in March.
Socialist political YouTuber Hasan Piker has been subpoenaed by the Trump administration’s Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control over trips he’s made to Cuba alongside CodePink’s Susan Medea Benjamin, who was also issued a subpoena. The issue at hand is whether or not these groups violated US law by “supporting Cuba’s communist regime,” Fox News Digital reports.
Piker and others, including Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter Isra Hirsi, traveled to Cuba in March in support of the regime amid sanctions and embargoes from the United States against the communist power. The move was part of an international outcry by leftist activists following the United States indictment and ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The federal inquiry, per Fox News Digital, is “into whether activists who traveled to Cuba in March violated US sanctions laws through the financing, coordination or delivery of goods to Cuba, including potntial contacts with Cuban government personnel or entities on the island.” Former Cuban president Raul Castro was incidted by the United States last week on charges or shooting down American humanitarian planes that were looking for migrants Cubans in need of aid at sea.
The Requests for Information “seek financial, logistical and communications information revolving around trips the two widely bragged about making to the island nation in March with delegations of the ‘Nuestra América Convoy,’ or ‘Our America Convoy,’ from a global network of communist sympathizers, activists and influencers who brought supplies to the country’s ruling Communist Party of Cuba, according to sources familiar with the matter.”
Piker traveled under the banner of the “Nuestra America Convoy,” which was intended to bring aid to Cuba amid the US blockade. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel addressed attendees at the Palacio de Convenciones during the visit. The group also organized events, including a concert, while much of the country was experiencing extended power outages.