JayZ and Beyonce Cleared Of Potential US Sanction Violations
The Treasury Department said Wednesday that there was "no indication" that Beyonc Knowles-Carter and her husband Jay-Z Sean Carter violated U.S. sanctions in Cuba in 2013. The announcement Wednesday comes a year and four months after the famous couple took to a trip to the country to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. The department's inspector general concluded that the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which issues licenses to organizations that sponsor educational exchange programs in Cuba, was "reasonable" for having passed on a formal investigation into the Carters' visit, despite speculation in the media implying suspicious motives. In April 2013, three Cuban-American RepublicansSen. Marco Rubio and Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balartraised concerns that the Administration wasn't properly enforcing the travel regulations between the U.S. and Cuba. At the time, the Treasury Department countered that the Carters' trip was legal under a cultural exchange program. Brushing off Republican speculation about his Cuban getaway, Jay-Z released "Open Letter," featuring the lyrics "Obama said, Chill, you gonna get me impeached,'" he rapped. "You don't need this s anyway, chill with me on the beach.'", "Politicians never did s for me except lie to me, distort history," he rapped. "They wanna give me jail time and a fine. Fine, let me commit a real crime.",