Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin have reportedly been subpoenaed by US federal authorities over their March Cuba trip. Investigators are probing possible sanctions violations linked to humanitarian aid deliveries.
“The American government would rather try to criminalize delivering aid to a country we’ve starved, than punish the Epstein class,” Piker wrote on X in response to Fox News’ coverage of the subpoenas.
Piker, who is one of the biggest political streamers on Twitch, visited Cuba earlier this year as part of the Nuestração Convoy, a humanitarian effort that sent the nation medical supplies and other help.
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Why did Piker and Benjamin receive the subpoenas?
The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Treasury Department sent the two administrative subpoenas.
According to Fox News, the administrative subpoenas, known as “Requests for Information,” or RFI, seek financial, logistical, and communications information from Piker and Benjamin’s widely publicized trips to Cuba in March with delegations of the “Nuestração Convoy,” or “Our America Convoy.”
Officials are also investigating whether any of the participants stayed at hotels on the State Department’s Cuba Restricted List.
“We stayed at the right hotel btw,” Piker said in response to a remark on the hotel problem in an X post. “The govt got duped by a f***ing viral twitter post. i’m losing my mind.”
Tourist travel is still forbidden, and U.S. regulations may prohibit direct financial transactions with organizations on the Cuba Restricted List. However, OFAC regulations permit certain travel-related transactions involving Cuba under specific categories.
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“Taking medical supplies to pediatric hospitals in Cuba is now a crime?”
Piker is politically vocal and clapped back at the subpoenas on X. He tagged the original Fox report and wrote, “The American govt would rather try to criminalize delivering aid to a country we’ve starved, than punish the Epstein class.”
Benjamin also did not stay quiet and wrote, “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.”
