http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45796

Just heard about this. Gibson says they have broken no laws. They were even raided once in 2009.

Seems the Justice Dept. needs to be more worried about Operation Fast and Furious (as if that's going to happen).

 

Finally got a chance to read this.

What is going on, the Justice Department is really reaching on this one.

huh, now the JD is enforcing laws from other countries in the US ?
Does this mean it will soon be OK to stone women for not listening ? This is just a ridiculous as enforcing the India law against Gibson.

Nothing like taking people off working, it is not like the Govt needs the taxes, or the money put into the economy... Wait yes they do.

 

Sad part about this is Gibson had all the paper work and approval from the Indian government.

Holder NEEDS TO BE FIRED!

 

Maybe it was politically motivated? http://www.bluecollarphilosophy.com/...-democrat.html

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2...ice-department

Andrea Johnson, director of forest programs for the Environmental Investigation Agency in Washington, says the Lacey Act requires end users of endangered wood to certify the legality of their supply chain all the way to the trees. EIA's independent investigations have concluded that Gibson knowingly imported tainted wood.

"Gibson clearly understood the risks involved," says Johnson. "Was on the ground in Madagascar getting a tour to understand whether they could possibly source illegally from that country. And made a decision in the end that they were going to source despite knowing that there was a ban on exports of ebony and rosewood."

 

The "Environmental Investigation Agency". I wonder which side of the fence they sit on?

Gibson says they have broken no laws. Gibson repeats that the wood is not from banned Madagascar, but from India and have the paperwork to support that. In fact, they were raided before in 2009 and never had their property returned by the gov't.

We will see.

 

However, the federal agent’s search warrant affidavit contends that 1,250 pieces of Indian ebony wood that arrived by air in Dallas on June 22 were imported illegally, sparking the federal investigation under the Lacey Act policing international trade in plants as well as federal smuggling law.

India does not allow wood to be exported if it is sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced, peeled or more than 6 millimeters thick, the government contends in the court filing. The sawn ebony wood intercepted by U.S. customs agents in Dallas was 10 millimeters thick.

Initial customs documents for the shipment falsely described the wood as veneer, less than 6 millimeters thick and finished parts of musical instruments, according to the court document.

In addition, rather than listing Gibson as its ultimate consignee as required, California-based Luthier Mercantile International initially was declared to be the final destination for the wood, agents reported.

A federal Department of Homeland Security data system tracking all imports to the U.S., the federal agent reported, showed 11 shipments of sawn ebony or rosewood from India bound for Gibson facilities in Memphis, Nashville or in Bozeman, Mont.

http://www.factoverfiction.com/article/3225

 

In this country, people and even companies are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

Also, just because India does not allow it, does not mean that Gibson can be held accountable to their laws in the US. Gibson cannot even be prosecuted under the Lacey Act. The person(s) that sold them the wood in India can be charged with breaking their laws.

Either way, Gibson has stated they are in the clear (in fact, C.F. Martin & Company imports the same wood from India, but they are a Democratic donor and have not been raided).

Common sense tells one that after the raid in 2009, nothing happened to Gibson legally and the gov't did not return the property they confiscated. This reeks of gestapo tactics rooted in politics.

 

The Lacey Act does enforce the laws of other countries to prevent companies from using the United States for trafficking in illegal goods......Thus, it is not in anyway odd for the U.S. to enforce the law of another country. Moreover, the affidavit below claims a series of false or misleading statements in the documentation related to this shipment.
http://jonathanturley.org/2011/09/01...lations-again/

Sections 20,21, and 30 of BCP's warrant show the extent of Gibson's deception.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/package...sonWarrant.pdf

 

The gov't ALWAYS makes a lot of claims in affidavits. Innocent until proven guilty. There is no deception if they didn't break any of OUR laws. We need to be more worried about the government putting guns into the hands of known criminals and killing American citizens.

Even according to what the gov't states, Gibson did not violate the Lacey Act if it is read in it's entirety. I would suggest reading it.


All this is accomplishing is the administrations desired effect: To cause Gibson to spend hundreds of thousands/millions to defend themselves in a court of law.

 

My opinion is to make it so they cannot spend a dime on GOP contributions.

 

Absolutely. And the money they spend on defense obviously cannot be spent on contributions or trying to build guitars.

It would be sad to see Gibson go under because of legal bills/confiscated property.

 

In an interview, the Gibson CEO has claimed that the so-called "unfinished wood" was in fact finished (as in, fully-manufactured) ebony fingerboards that are mounted to the guitar neck during final assembly of the guitar...and that he has letters from the Indian government affirming that these are in fact finished products.

If true, he would seem to have a reasonable argument that the seizure was wrong.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/02/smal...itar/index.htm

 

Holder is out of controll. As Frank mentioned in his first post there is very little being done about "Fast and Furious", perhaps the Gibson thing is just a smoke screen. Or maybe they are testing the waters to see if they can get these charges to stick so this "method" can be used in the future in other areas.(Tin foil hat time, I know).

We as Americans need to stand up against this kind of gastapo garbage disguised as "legal" actions. It will probably take years to straighten out everything Obama and his ilk have perpatrated on the American people.<rant over>