PAPER: Gibson Guitar raids may be another case of Obama administration targeting

[sailingaway]

PAPER: Gibson Guitar raids may be another case of Obama administration targeting

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/26/paper-gibson-guitar-raids-may-be-another-case-of-obama-administration-targeting/#ixzz2URbccw00

[oyarde]

Yep.

[ghengis86]

FFS. This stunk to high heaven at the time. After the current 'revelations'?!??!? For sure. If not Barry Soetoro then some middle manager fuck with an axe to grind or promotion to garner.

[The Northbreather]

Why the hell did they have to pay the US fish and wildlife if they supposedly harmed Indian wildlife? (I'm not saying they should have been punished at all)

Talk about global/earth worldview.

[roho76]

I can't believe scandals like these, don't bring the government to it's knees. I mean seriously, how can anyone argue on behalf of state power, whether Right/Left, with these gross abuses of power at the hands of any politician?

[HOLLYWOOD]

CEO of Gibson Guitar a Republican donor; Democrat competitor uses same wood
http://landmarkreport.com/andrew/2011/08/ceo-of-gibson-guitar-a-republican-donor

August 2011 by Andrew Lawton (http://landmarkreport.com/author/andrew) 257 (http://landmarkreport.com/andrew/2011/08/ceo-of-gibson-guitar-a-republican-donor#comments)


On Thursday, the iconic Gibson Guitar Corporation issued a press release stating that government officials raided their Tennessee manufacturing facility over warrants concerning the legality of the importation of wood purchased from India that they use in their world famous guitars. The wood–which is certified and regulated by the Forest Stewardship Council–is not illegal, but rather subject to a domestic law in India frowns upon the processing of this wood by non-Indians. (Gibson uses American labor for the processing.) Gibson’s press release claims that, while this incident marks the second raid of their facility in around two years, this is the first of the raids to cost the company time and resources, as they needed to shut down operations. It seems as though this was all for naught. The release read (http://www.gibson.com/absolutenm/templates/FeatureTemplatePressRelease.aspx?articleid=1340&zoneid=6):
The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.) This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.

On August 24, 2011, around 8:45 a.m. CDT, agents for the federal government executed four search warrants on Gibson’s facilities in Nashville and Memphis and seized several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. Gibson had to cease its manufacturing operations and send workers home for the day, while armed agents executed the search warrants. Gibson has fully cooperated with the execution of the search warrants.

The fact that the government would issue warrants based on their interpretation of another country’s laws is laughable–and scary–in and of itself, but that they would demonize an American, non-unionized (coincidentally, I’m sure) company for something that isn’t even a crime (especially not in the American lawbooks) is a gross misjustice. Keep in mind that the Indian government itself wasn’t involved in the Gibson warrants and raid.
This unfortunate event begs the question, Why Gibson? Putting aside the presumably misguided motivation to enforce another sovereign nation’s laws, why would a homegrown American company be the target of the Department of Justice in the first place?

It’s worth pointing out that Henry E. Juszkiewicz, Gibson’s Chief Executive Officer, is a donor to a couple of Republican politicians. According to the Open Secrets (http://www.opensecrets.org) database, Juszkiewicz donated $2000 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN07) last year, as well as $1500 to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Juszkiewicz also has donated $10,000 to the Consumer Electronics Association, a PAC that contributed $92.5k to Republican candidates last year, as opposed to $72k to Democrats. (The CEA did, however, contribute more to Democrats in the 2008 election cycle.)

When warrants as ridiculous such as these are issued and executed, there appears no other reason than because the company or individual at hand is being targeted, not because there is any sort of wrongdoing. As a company, Gibson is a legendary. They’ve done nothing wrong, except, apparently, deigning to have a Republican CEO.

The plot thickens, however.

One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog (http://t.co/nl1bukc), several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood (http://search.gibson.com/search?q=East%20Indian%20rosewood&btnG=Search&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&output=xml_no_dtd&spell=1&client=default_frontend&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&site=default_collection&filter=p) in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars.


The Gibson facility wasn’t raided over allegations of tax evasion, charges of embezzlement, or even something as drab as child labor. Not even close. It was raided over what the DOJ deems an inability to follow a vague domestic trade law in India (one that apparently the Indian government didn’t seem too concerned about enforcing) regarding a specific type of wood. Not illegal wood, just wood with obscenely specific procedural guidelines. Stand with Gibson: They have the Law on their side, just not the government.
——————–
Note: On August 27th, this post was revised to incorporate various updates. Listen to Andrew Lawton’s and Ben Swenson’s interview with Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz (http://landmarkreport.com/landmark/2011/08/strictly-right-radio-episode-127-with-henry-juszkiewicz/). A big thanks to Twitter’s @arlasko (http://www.twitter.com/arlasko) and my Strictly Right Radio (http://www.strictlyright.com) co-host @MrSimpleSense (http://www.twitter.com/mrsimplesense) for their assistance with this article. Tags: Democratic Party (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/democratic-party), Gibson (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/gibson), Gibson Guitar Corporation (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/gibson-guitar-corporation), Henry E. Juszkiewicz (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/henry-e-juszkiewicz), Henry Juszkiewicz (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/henry-juszkiewicz), Law & Order (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/law-order), Nanny State (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/nanny-state), Republican Party (http://landmarkreport.com/tag/republican-party)
http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/81a5a7a907f531e89a5399b6eab38589?s=48&d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a 11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D48&r=G Andrew Lawton (http://landmarkreport.com/author/andrew)
Andrew Lawton is Landmark Report's Editor-in-Chief and a North American radio and television personality. In addition to hosting the top podcast on the Take That! Media network, Strictly Right Radio, he is also a contributor on Canada's Sun News Network. Andrew, the King of Canadian Social Media, tweets as @AndrewLawton (http://www.twitter.com/andrewlawton).

[heavenlyboy34]

I can't believe scandals like these, don't bring the government to it's knees. I mean seriously, how can anyone argue on behalf of state power, whether Right/Left, with these gross abuses of power at the hands of any politician?
Cognitive dissonance.

[VoluntaryAmerican]

Pretty poorly written article... But yea, the hard part will be proving this. Right now all Gibson can do is bring this to more people's attention.

[Sola_Fide]

I'm ashamed to live in such a tyrannical country.

[puppetmaster]

I tell my democrat friends and they scoff.....then say corruption is worse in republican party and stick their heads back in their iPhone.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

crap. everyone check the wood in your homes

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

I tell my democrat friends and they scoff.....then say corruption is worse in republican party and stick their heads back in their iPhone.
ignorance is bliss. Say something bad about Obama and they say "Well Mitt Romney is worse" When you have never A) Mentioned republicans and B) Mentioned Romney

[HOLLYWOOD]

FOX BUSINESS covered this this morning with Judge Andrew Napolitano

He pointed out that government instead of filing a lawsuit, which they do a gazillion times a year against companies, decided to raid 3 Gibson Guitar factories with Federal SWAT teams with "Guns Ablazing".

Again mentioned was... the other guitar manufacturers within the US which use the same source/usage of woods, were not raided, were donors to Obama/Democratic liberal politicians/parties.

NE1 have the video of today's coverage please post.

[jj-]

It was pointed in 2011 already that Gibson Guitars was being targeted for the same "crime" a competitor was committing. The competitor didn't get a lawsuit because the CEO was a donor to the democrats. The CEO of Gibson Guitar was a Republican. The proper time for impeachment was already 2011.

[Brian4Liberty]

FOX BUSINESS covered this this morning with Judge Andrew Napolitano

He pointed out that government instead of filing a lawsuit, which they do a gazillion times a year against companies, decided to raid 3 Gibson Guitar factories with Federal SWAT teams with "Guns Ablazing".

Again mentioned was... the other guitar manufacturers within the US which use the same source/usage of woods, were not raided, were donors to Obama/Democratic liberal politicians/parties.

NE1 have the video of today's coverage please post.

That was a great segment.

Here's a link to the Judge with Megan Kelly:
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/28/judge-napolitano-gibson-guitars-raid-and-government-targeting-republican-groups

[Brian4Liberty]

Judge Napolitano is calling for a further investigation into this, including who made the call to send militarized SWAT teams.

[Brian4Liberty]

Text from the link:


'Seeking Vengeance?' Judge Napolitano Calls Out DOJ Over Gibson Guitar Raid

Fiery Judge Napolitano slams DOJ: 'I'd like to know who authorized the military-style raid on a beloved American company.'

Judge Andrew Napolitano told Megyn Kelly on America Live that the issue has resurfaced because “this administration has a penchant for seeking vengeance against those who want to speak out, and the owner of Gibson did so verbally by endorsing Republican candidates and financially by endorsing them as well.”

The judge said he’d like to know who in the Department of Justice gave the okay on the military-style raid. “The raid was unjustifiable. The use of force in the raid was criminal.”

After the government seized Gibson’s wood and effectively shut down their business for a month, the company now has $2.5 million in legal fees. Napolitano noted that Gibson still hasn’t received its wood back, nor have they been compensated for it as federal law requires of seized assets.

“It’s not the same as manufacturing methamphetamine,” he said. “If it was improperly imported, that is a civil wrong. It’s not a criminal one.”

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/05/28/judge-napolitano-gibson-guitars-raid-and-government-targeting-republican-groups

[HOLLYWOOD]

Judge Napolitano is calling for a further investigation into this, including who made the call to send militarized SWAT teams.Which Judge Napolitano has stated, "Is Illegal"

This proves Washington DC is nothing but corrupt dictatorial government and repeatedly have broken laws, and Unconstitutional. No wonder Obama/Holder want to target all; Conservatives/Constitutionalists/Tea Party/etc

Absolute Power Corrupts...

[dannno]

...in before Zippy


“Grossly underreported at the time was the fact that Gibson’s chief executive, Henry Juszkiewicz, contributed to Republican politicians. Recent donations have included $2,000 to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and $1,500 to Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn,” the editorial reads.

“By contrast, Chris Martin IV, the Martin & Co. CEO, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the Democratic National Committee over the past couple of election cycles,” it adds.

This seems to have less to do with stopping Republican candidates from being funded and more to do with the Obama admin taking care of their donors by trying to slow or shut down their opponents' businesses.

To frame the Gibson guitar maker as a big donor is not going to sit well when people find out he hasn't donated a whole lot, unless they can bring up more big donations, but the idea was simply that Gibson was on 'the other side' which is a good excuse for their competitors to go to the Obama admin and try and get them to punish their business unfairly.

[HOLLYWOOD]

...in before Zippy

This seems to have less to do with stopping Republican candidates from being funded and more to do with the Obama admin taking care of their donors by trying to slow or shut down their opponents' businesses.

To frame the Gibson guitar maker as a big donor is not going to sit well when people find out he hasn't donated a whole lot, unless they can bring up more big donations, but the idea was simply that Gibson was on 'the other side' which is a good excuse for their competitors to go to the Obama admin and try and get them to punish their business unfairly.Fascism-Favorism? I wonder if you could charge the US government with RICO violations let alone, attacking the Gibson guitar facilities with strom troppers? Oh well, if they can send Storm Troopers in with Guns a Blazing for Raw Milk, I guess anything is possible with the Orwellian government.

Government targeting any group, for whatever reason, shows just how corrupt government has grown in America... Same goes for those other "Government Mob Bosses"... W Bush and Slick Willy Clinton. Politicians, government agencies, have this marriage with corporation/business and of course, campaign donors. Campaign donors appear to be the #1 rewarded entity in America today by government.

So there you go... a political system based on Bribery and due to this corrupt crime racketeering, the country is done.

[dannno]

bump