The Treasury Department has served subpoenas to leftist Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin over their March trip to Cuba, according to Fox News.
“the american govt would rather try to criminalize delivering aid to a country we’ve starved, than punish the epstein class,” Piker wrote Saturday on X in response to the report.
In an April YouTube video, Piker explained his trip to Cuba, saying he wanted to see in person the problems Cuba experiences because of the trade embargo imposed by the United States, as well as to see a socialist society in person. His trip, he said, was part of a humanitarian mission to bring aid to Cuba because the United States wouldn’t after Cuba’s electricity grid collapsed in March due to a U.S.-imposed oil blockade, leaving about 10 million people without power.
Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, a feminist anti-war organization, wrote Saturday on X, “Taking medical supplies to pediatric hospitals in Cuba is now a crime? Saving the lives of babies is a crime? This administration is beyond grotesque.”
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued the subpoenas, according to Fox News, related to questions about whether Piker and Benjamin violated U.S. sanctions laws through the “financing, coordination or delivery of goods to Cuba.”
Piker and Benjamin’s trip to Cuba was made with Nuestra América Convoy, an international movement formed just a few months ago to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba. More than 600 delegates and 120 organizations participated in the trip, according to The Associated Press.
Neither the Treasury Department nor Nuestra América Convoy immediately responded to a request for comment.
The investigation into Piker and Benjamin is a part of a larger effort by the United States government to stop what it sees as harmful foreign influence on the United States. More subpoenas are expected, according to Fox News.
“The scrutiny reflects growing concern among federal authorities and lawmakers over whether foreign actors and aligned organizations are attempting to shape American political discourse, mobilize activists, sow discord and normalize rhetoric that could encourage violence or undermine U.S. national security interests,” Fox News wrote in its Saturday report.