A few weeks ago it would have been difficult to imagine that the Fish and Wildlife Service would
raid a guitar factory looking for illegal wood. If there is such a thing as forbidden wood,
imported from overseas, then it's a matter that could be handled by a polite reprimand and a fine
issued by a couple of overpaid federal nerds during normal business hours. After all, those
trees are already dead. (And that's the thing about trees — they'll grow back.)
There is nothing to be gained by seizing the forbidden lumber and destroying it —
unless the raid was executed for the purpose of heavy-handed intimidation of a group of
people who didn't vote for Barack H. Obama, and a non-union company that relocated to a
right-to-work state. In that case, this story goes from stupid to sinister.
That's a really nice guitar factory you have. It would be a shame if something bad
happened to it.
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to this site whatsoever, and there isn't even a link from this page to their web site.
Gibson,
Iconic Guitar Company, Said to Be Nearing Bankruptcy. Gibson Brands Inc., one of the two most iconic guitar
companies in music history, is facing bankruptcy after years of challenges, according to a report in the Nashville Post and
other sources. The Post reports that the company, which has annual revenues of more than $1 billion, is less than six
months away from $375 million of senior secured notes reaching maturity; another $145 million in bank loans will be due
immediately if those notes, issued in 2013, are not refinanced by July 23. The company's chief financial officer, Bill
Lawrence, recently departed after just six month in the role; the company also moved out of its Nashville offices, from which
it had operated since moving to the city from Kalamazoo, Michigan in the 1980s.
Gibson Guitar "Government
Series". I somehow missed last year that Nashville's Gibson Guitar, target of a notoriously militarized regulatory
raid by the U.S. government [...] has not let the matter be forgotten among its customers. It has launched a product line
called the Government Series II Les Paul, which "uses the wood that the Feds ultimately returned to Gibson after the resolution
and the investigation was concluded."
Lumber
Union Protectionists Incited SWAT Raid On My Factory, Says Gibson Guitar CEO. While
30 men in SWAT attire dispatched from Homeland Security and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cart
away about half a million dollars of wood and guitars, seven armed agents interrogate an employee
without benefit of a lawyer. The next day Juszkiewicz receives a letter warning that he cannot
touch any guitar left in the plant, under threat of being charged with a separate federal offense
for each "violation," punishable by a jail term. Up until that point Gibson had not received so
much as a postcard telling the company it might be doing something wrong.
Striking the Wrong Chord.
Henry Juszkiewicz and Christian Martin run competing guitar-manufacturing companies, but their politics have nothing in common.
Juszkiewicz, CEO of the Tennessee-based Gibson Guitar, is a Republican who donates heavily to party candidates, including Mike
Huckabee. Martin, CEO of the Pennsylvania-based Martin Guitar, donates heavily to Democrats, including Barack Obama.
Despite their partisan differences, Juskiewicz and Martin have something in common — both of their companies import
the same type of exotic wood to manufacture guitars.
Forgotten
Scandal: Gibson Guitars Still Being Persecuted for Doing No Wrong. In 2011, Gibson's Tennessee factories were raided for
allegedly violating the Lacey Act, a federal statute that makes it a crime to import tropical hardwoods in violation of foreign law.
Imagine 30 heavily armed federal officers storming into your business, seizing your goods and providing no reason why. A
nightmare for any business — and a reality for Gibson Guitars. "Our business has been injured to the tune of millions
of dollars," Gibson chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz told Heritage in 2011 after $1 million of ebony, rosewood, and finished
guitars from the factories were seized.
Gibson CEO revives
complaints over government raids. The CEO of Gibson Guitars is reviving a claim that his company was unfairly targeted by the government,
on the heels of the scandal over the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups. Gibson boss Henry Juszkiewicz, who has donated in the past to Republicans,
told Fox News on Wednesday [5/29/2013] he doesn't know whether a series of raids on his company were tied at all to his political leanings.
But he said "I clearly believe that someone targeted our company inappropriately."
Rep. Marsha Blackburn Wants Obama Admin to Explain
Gibson Guitar Raid. The 2011 raid of the Gibson Guitar plant is being seen in a new light thanks to recent scandals swirling around the Obama
administration. The company's CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, is a conservative, and the raid involved armed federal agents entering the Memphis guitar plant
in search of illegal wood. Could the raid be part of the government's efforts to target and torment conservatives, already on display with the
IRS's selective harassment of Tea Party groups?
Gibson Guitar and the Politics of Persecution.
By now it is well known that the Obama IRS has been persecuting individuals affiliated with the Tea Party and even religious organizations through audits,
federal agency investigations and the denial of the right to form non-profit groups. The Obama Justice Department, too, has engaged in unprecedented
seizing of communication records of journalists, including Fox News's James Rosen, whom the administration has threatened with charges of "espionage."
With these details now made public, Gibson Guitar has good reason to believe the shocking raid of its facilities, which cost the company altogether
millions of dollars, was also a warning to its Republican-supporting CEO Henry Juszkiewicz.
Gibson Guitar
raids may be another case of Obama administration targeting. The Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups puts
the federal government's raids on Gibson Guitar Corp. in a new light, according to a recent Investor's Business Daily editorial. The government
has accused Gibson of obtaining wood that was illegal in India and Madagascar. The government argues that this is a violation of the Lacey Act
of 1900, which outlaws the use of plants and wildlife that have been taken or traded in violation of foreign law.
Does that Gibson Guitar raid make more sense
now? An editorial at Investors Business Daily may wind up being filed under how did I miss this one? Following the recent revelations
of cases where the administration appears to have used the muscle of the federal government to go after its political enemies, IBD takes a walk down
memory lane to the strange case of Gibson Guitars and the federal raids on their facilities for alleged illegal importing of exotic woods used in their
products.
Now The Gibson Guitar Raids Make
Sense. The inexplicable raid nearly two years ago on a guitar maker for using allegedly illegal wood that its competitors also used was
another targeting by this administration of its political enemies.
Flashback: President Obama
Targeted Gibson Guitars and Boeing on Ideological Grounds. Even mainstream media outlets are running story upon story
about President Barack Obama's possible ties to the government grabbing a wire service's phone records and the IRS bullying conservative
groups. Those who have been paying attention to the New Media shouldn't be surprised by these headlines. In fact, here are two
examples where the Obama administration appeared to use an ideological cudgel to bash both conservatives and free market principles.
A Closer Look at Gibson
Guitar's Legal Troubles. When the Department of Justice announced an agreement on Monday [8/13/2012] ending its criminal
investigation of the Gibson Guitar Company over its handling of hardwoods imported from India and Madagascar, I sought a reaction from
W. John Thomas, a law professor at Quinnipiac University. Thomas has deep knowledge of the relevant law, the Lacey Act, as
well as Gibson guitars, given that he has written a book on vintage Gibsons and performs on a variety of old Gibson models.
Gibson Guitar Corp. Strikes Deal with
Justice Dept. to Avoid Prosecution. Gibson Guitar Corp. agreed to settle charges that it illegally purchased and imported ebony wood from
Madagascar and rosewood and ebony from India, the Justice Department said today [8/6/2012]. The company will pay a $300,000 fine under a criminal
enforcement agreement that defers prosecution for criminal violations of the Lacey Act. Another $50,000 fine will go to the National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation "to be used to promote the conservation, identification and propagation of protected tree species used in the musical instrument industry and the
forests where those species are found."
Congress Looks to Rewrite Act That Led to Gibson Guitar Raid. Lawmakers are
reviewing legislation to amend a century-old law that led to a raid by armed federal agents at the Gibson Guitar Company in August 2011 at its Nashville
and Memphis factories and, in a separate case, to the imprisonment of two Americans for importing improperly packaged lobsters. Critics of the
Lacey Act say it is being used to enforce laws of foreign governments that most Americans are not aware of, and that it is too broad and too vague to
carry harsh criminal penalties.
Gibson Guitars, my favorite, harassed by feds. Without question
Gibson guitars are the finest, most revered guitars on the planet. There is no finer sonic-producing weapon for a guitar slayer than a
hand crafter Gibson masterpiece. Gibson has been making the finest electric guitars the world has ever witnessed for over 70 years.
They are as American as God, guns and rock and roll. Competition from other guitar manufacturers have never been unable to unseat Gibson from
their electric guitar throne. But Gibson has now possibly met its match from the most out-of-tune institution the world has ever known:
Fedzilla.
Gibson
Guitar case drags on with no sign of criminal charges. It was seven months ago that federal agents with
guns drawn raided the Gibson guitar factories in Nashville and Memphis. A half million dollars worth of Indian
rosewood and ebony was seized under the premise that it had been imported illegally. The feds also took a number
of guitars and computer hard drives. The factory was shut down for the day and employees told to go home.
Yet after all this time, the Department of Justice has shown no sign that it will file criminal charges against Gibson.
Gibson Guitars: Six Months
Later. Gibson was raided because of some wood imported from Madagascar in 2009, and again in August
of 2011, this time pertaining to rosewood imported from India. In either instance, the Government has yet to
file charges. The net cost to Gibson so far is several Million Dollars in confiscated materials, productive
closures and lost sales. Gibson of course wants her day in court. Gibson has been denied due process
and her right to a speedy trial. Part of the reason Gibson has been denied her Fourth and Sixth Amendment
rights is that the Obama Administration knew, even before going on this witch hunt, that they were wrong.
Apparently it was a SWAT raid for no reason other than intimidation. Gibson Guitars still faces no charges, months after raid.
Back in August, the federal government's raid on Gibson Guitars made huge news. The raid by armed agents was
ostensibly conducted because Gibson was illegally using rare, restricted woods from India and Madagascar to make its
guitars — even though nobody in India or Madagascar filed any complaints against them.
The Government and the
Guitar Man. On Aug. 24, federal agents descended on three factories and the Nashville corporate
headquarters of the Gibson Guitar Corp. Accompanied by armored SWAT teams with automatic weapons, agents from the
Fish and Wildlife Service swarmed the factories, threatening bewildered luthiers, or guitar craftsman, and other
frightened employees. A smaller horde invaded the office of CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, pawing through it all
day while an armed man stood in the door to block his way.
Gibson Guitar CEO slams
U.S. raids as "overreach". Gibson Guitar Corp.'s chief slammed the U.S. government on Wednesday
for sending armed agents to raid two Tennessee factories under a law aimed at curbing the illegal harvest of
tropical hardwoods.
Gibson
Guitar CEO warns that jobs may be sent overseas in aftermath of DOJ raid. Although two months
have passed, Gibson Guitars CEO Henry Juszkiewicz has taken an unusually aggressive posture against the DOJ.
On Wednesday [10/12/2011], he told The Daily Caller there could be casualties from the DOJ's actions, first of
which he said may be higher guitar prices. "It's a zero-sum game," he said. "You don't create
money out of thin air. So a dollar goes to lawyers in Washington, D.C. is a dollar that comes out of
our consumers' pockets, period."
Guns,
Guitars and Government Raids. In August, armed federal agents raided the offices and factories
of the legendary Gibson Guitar Corp. in Nashville and Memphis. It was the second time the feds had
ransacked the renowned Tennessee guitar-maker since President Barack Obama took office. And what were they
going after? Dirty laundering monies? Gun smugglers? Cocaine cargo that could make cartels
quiver? No. The federal search and seizure sought to capture ... ready? Wood. To be
exact, rosewood and ebony from India, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had declared to be illegal to
import.
500
turn out at rally supporting Gibson Guitar. "If the government is going to target Gibson today,
whose business are they going to raid tomorrow?" said Cookie Bowers, 64. "We said, 'We've just got
to go.'" It was a sentiment echoed by others in the crowd of about 500 who turned out for Saturday
afternoon's [10/8/2011] "We Stand With Gibson" rally, some carrying signs that read "Who's Next" and "When
they come for you, who will be left to speak?"
Gibson
Raid Leaves Other Guitar Makers at Risk. Gibson facilities in Memphis and Nashville were raided
by federal agents on August 24, leaving the company with an estimated loss of $2 to $3 million.
Gibson's alleged crime was a violation of the Lacey Act, a conservation law that aims to protect plants and
wildlife from endangerment by enacting civil and criminal penalties for a throng of violations. Gibson
is being charged for allegedly importing wood from a foreign country in violation of a 2008 amendment to the
law that makes it unlawful "to import certain plants and plant products without an import declaration."
Gibson: Feds
'lied' about CEO's wood statement. A Gibson Guitar spokesman said Friday that a federal agent
"lied" in an affidavit filed in federal court that claims the company's outspoken CEO was aware that wood
seized by authorities was illegally imported.
The Gibson
Raid: Much to Fret About. With military precision, the federal officers surrounded the building,
donned flak jackets and helmets, readied their weapons, burst in, and forced terrified employees out at gunpoint.
Officers ransacked the facility, seizing computers, papers, and materials. It was the second raid in three
years by the Fish and Wildlife Service on Gibson, maker of the famous Les Paul guitar. The situation would
be laughable, if the consequences for Gibson weren't so dire.
Feds
to Gibson: Hand over more wood. Federal authorities are pressuring Nashville-based Gibson Guitar to
hand over an additional 25 bundles of Indian wood that the company allegedly planned to use in its famous
guitars.
Gibson
Guitar becomes cause celebre for conservatives. The feds were after contraband in Gibson's
Tennessee factories that day — ebony and rosewood they suspected was illegally imported from
India. But their actions against the company whose guitars have been strummed by B.B. King,
Bob Dylan and John Lennon netted some unanticipated results: infamy on talk radio and from commentators
on the right. Weeks later, the raid has generated publicity worthy of a rock concert.
Feds
Still Mum on Reason for Gibson Raids. Federal officials have shed a little light on last month's
raid of Gibson Guitar Corp. facilities in Memphis and Nashville — without really revealing much
at all.
With
Gibson, Obama 'actively discouraging' jobs. Three House Republicans sent a
letter yesterday [9/8/2011] to Attorney General Eric Holder, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar,
and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Director Daniel Ashe challenging two raids on a Gibson
Guitar Corporation factory by federal agents. ... The Department of Justice is reportedly
investigating whether Gibson violated Indian export laws by importing "sawn wood" for their
guitars, which in turn would violate the U.S. Lacey Act of 1900.
Gibson Guitars.
So many great musicians, both well-known and unknown, have played those great Gibson guitars over
the years. From Chet Atkins to B.B. King to Roy Orbison to Jimmy Page to Slash — the
list seems almost endless.
Gibson
CEO to face feds. U.S. Justice Department officials have requested a meeting with Gibson
Guitar owners next week, while in Congress lawmakers continue to ask why the factories and offices of
the longtime manufacturer of prized guitars were raided on Aug. 24. Gibson CEO Henry
Juszkiewicz said he will meet with federal officials in Nashville on Wednesday to discuss the
raids. Juszkiewicz said he is unsure where the conversation will lead.
Embattled
Guitar Exec to Attend Obama's Speech. [Henry] Juszkiewicz has vocally defended Gibson's practices
and denied the allegations. "There's no doubt we're being persecuted," he said in an interview with the
Tennessean. "But while I was sitting in my conference room, while agents blocked the door to my office,
I decided two things. One, we were going to try and fight this in court. Secondly, we were going
to give this issue visibility."
Gibson goes
on the offensive. Eleven days ago, Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz was getting ready for
work when he got a phone call at home from his assistant, whose voice sounded panicky. Half a dozen
armed federal agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were searching the Gibson executive suite.
Two of the company's South Nashville guitar factories also had just been raided, along with one in Memphis.
By the time Juszkiewicz reached his office, agents were forensically imaging his computer and carting out
boxes of paperwork and company hard drives.
The Guitar Police.
The making of electric guitars frequently involves the use of various exotic hardwoods. This
raises some environmental concerns. In 2009, the DOJ, armed with automatic weapons, raided
Gibson and seized significant quantities of the company's wood. Nearly two years later, no
charges have yet been filed related to the initial raid. However, environmental concerns
are only a tangential matter for the guitar police.
Gibson:
Feds Want Guitar Woodwork Done by Foreign Labor. Gibson Guitar Corp. is
claiming the Obama administration wants more of its woodwork done overseas, as a bizarre
battle heats up between the government and one of the country's most renowned guitar makers.
Eco-zealous
feds target Gibson guitars, antique piano sellers. US Fish and Wildlife officials have raided
the famous Gibson Guitars. And the instrument-maker isn't alone. Antique piano dealers are also
in the crosshairs. Why? Because rare, beautiful instruments made of ecologically incorrect
materials must be sacrificed at the green altar.
Environmental
Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear. Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday
[8/24/2011], raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood,
electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman
and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of
bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council
certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws
to make the company cry uncle.
Fretting
Over Foreign Laws. Now the Internet is reverberating with a mean blues riff about how the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service over the last two years has twice raided Gibson factories in Tennessee. The
federal blue meanies have decided that the iconic guitar maker may be violating the century-old Lacey Act,
which outlaws trafficking in flora and fauna whose harvesting has broken foreign laws.
The
Gibson Guitar Saga Gets Steadily Curiouser. It has come out that [Gibson CEO] Juszkiewicz is a
Republican donor, while the CEO of one of his principal competitors, C.F. Martin & Company, is a
Democratic donor. Martin reportedly uses the same wood, but DOJ hasn't raided them, leading to
speculation that the Obama administration is sending a warning to Republican businessmen that they had better
not oppose his re-election, lest they face criminal investigations. Normally such speculation would not
be credible, but Eric Holder has politicized the Department of Justice to a point where such questions
must be taken seriously.
Gibson
Guitar CEO: Feds Are Out to Get Us. Juszkiewicz says that 20 heavily armed officers from the
Fish and Wildlife Service and Homeland Security stormed his factories. Since when do we heavily arm
officers from the Fish and Wildlife Service? Juszkiewicz also explains how Gibson guitar owners must
fill out multiple forms of paperwork to prove the material used to build the guitar is legal. Yes, the
federal government is now worried about unregistered guitars floating around in the market place.
Feds
Raid Gibson Guitar to Save Endangered Foreign Trees. At approximately 8:45 a.m.
on August 24, federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corporation facilities in Nashville and
Memphis, making off with an estimated $1 million worth of Gibson property. Gibson's
alleged crime? Using imported wood from endangered trees. At least that's what the company
assumes the feds have in mind. Gibson hasn't actually been notified of any charges against the
company. In fact, according to a Gibson press release, they still haven't been told on what charges
"more than a dozen agents with automatic weapons" raided their factory and stole their property in
November 2009.
Obama's Creepy
Agency Creep. Why is the US Wildlife and Fisheries raiding Gibson Guitar, the SEC
examining hydraulic fracturing fluids, NASA seeking to build bridges with Muslims, and the
Department of Education attacking Rick Perry?
Obama
Admin Enforcing Non-Existent Madagascar Law. The Gibson Guitar company must not be unionized.
If they were, the Obama administration wouldn't be coming down on them for importing wood from Madagascar.
There's no business safe from these people.
Gibson
Guitar Busted By Feds ... Just Because. Being a carpenter, woodworker and sometimes wood carver,
I consider myself a connoisseur of fine wood. It didn't say in the article, but I'm thinking the wood
seized was Indian Rosewood and/or Satinwood. Both are highly figured woods that look spectacular on the
front of a guitar or any piece of furniture for that matter. And all this wood was confiscated because
of some obscure law, the Lacey Act which has to do with violations of foreign laws only. Gibson has
steadfastly proclaimed their innocence and said they've followed all laws of the US and any foreign countries
where they obtain their lumber from.
Michelle Obama's Gibson
guitar gift. Last week's DOJ raid on two Gibson Guitar facilities in Tennessee has generated
justifiable anger. The Justice Department confiscated $1 million worth of Gibson property (pallets
of wood, electronic files, guitars and the like), but failed to inform the company why. The raid
represents a repeat performance, too: Federal regulators pulled the same stunt on the storied
manufacturer in 2009.
Gibson
Guitars CEO on DOJ bullies. Since the WSJ first reported on the famed instrument-maker's battle with
the feds over rare wood used in its guitars last week, people across the country have rallied to Gibson's side.
The company's CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz has publicized his legal plight — and the heavy-handed, botched
enforcement tactics of a Justice Department bent on mis-applying foreign laws to American workers.
Obama
Administration Raids Gibson Guitars. Gibson, the storied maker of the Les Paul electric and
iconic instruments like the ES-150 jazz guitar played by Charlie Christian, has been a leader in corporate
responsibility on ethically sourced hardwoods. The company's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz,
issued a strongly worded statement defending his company's manufacturing policies. "The wood the
government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said.
Gibson
Guitar vs. The Obama Regime. It is just coincidental that Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry
Juszkiewicz has been a donator to Republican candidates and not to Barack Obama's election or now his
reelection. Mr. Juszkiewicz was informed by the government that they would drop all the charges against
his company and return the property that was seized if he moved his production plants to Madagascar.
That means 500 American jobs destroyed and lost to an overseas company. Thus we witness Obama's jobs
program in true action.
Gibson CEO: Feds Demanded Foreign
Labor. The federal government seized wood, guitars and electronic records from Gibson's
Nashville warehouses in 2009 and again last week. According to Juszkiewicz, that's when the
Feds made an unusual request from the American manufacturer. On KMJ airwaves, [Henry]
Juszkiewicz revealed that representatives of the US government told Gibson that their legal
issues would "disappear" if they used Madagascar labor instead of American labor.
Obama's minions spring into action. Environmental,
industry groups push back against Gibson Guitar. A coalition of environmental groups and wood
product companies is launching a public relations counteroffensive against what they describe as misinformation
promoted by Gibson Guitar. The groups want to protect the Lacey Act, which Gibson is under investigation
for possibly violating. Gibson, led by its CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, has decried the government investigation
as bullying and harassment.
Gibson raid part of effort
to extinguish American workforce, outsource jobs. Gibson's CEO Henry Juszkiewicz has openly
announced that the US government actually advised him in a pleading that if he simply were to move his
workforce to Madagascar, he could avoid his current quandary entirely. This shocking, written admission
by government agents, which was expounded upon by Juszkiewicz himself during a recent interview on KMJ AM's
The Chris Daniel Show, clearly illustrates what the federal government is up to these days. By targeting
a US-based company with a US-based labor force — which is an amazing rarity in today's globalized
world, by the way — for no legitimate or legal reason, it is obvious that an ulterior motive
is at work.
The
Government Grinches That Stole Christmas. The Little Drummer Boy had to be thankful that he did
not meet the same fate as his buddies in the guitar business. The iconic American instrument company was
raided by Feds who accused the company of selling "illegal wood" that it had legally obtained. The final
sour note: the government basically acknowledged the company would have an easier time manufacturing
its products overseas.
Stock tumbles after raid of Lumber Liquidators.
Federal investigators raided the offices of Lumber Liquidators on Thursday [9/26/2013], the company and authorities said. Stocks of the
hardwood flooring retailer fell sharply on Friday as the news emerged, dropping just over 10% at midday.
Lumber Liquidators Dives After Gov't Raid On Its HQ.
Lumber Liquidators (LL) plunged Friday after federal officials raided the hardwood flooring retailer's Toano, Va., headquarters as part of a probe into
possible illegal imports. But management told one analyst the company doesn't know why it's been targeted. The Department of Homeland Security,
along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, executed a sealed court-issued search warrant on Thursday at its Toano, Va., headquarters and at a Richmond,
Va., store.
The Editor says...
I suspect that a follow-up story will reveal that the raid was motivated by the political affiliations of the company's owners, and that it has nothing
to do with fish or wildlife.
Homeland Security Documents Found
in Target Parking Lot. [Scroll down] But that's not all NBC 12 uncovered. The station's anonymous source known as "Eric" explained
how he discovered documents pertaining to the plan. ["]He says he found Homeland Security's Operation Plan in the parking lot of the Target
on West Broad Street.["]
Federal Authorities Raid Lumber Liquidators Headquarters.
Federal authorities want to know where all that cheap wood at Lumber Liquidators comes from. On Thursday, the discount hardwood flooring retailer's
headquarters in Toano, Va., and another location in Richmond were raided by special agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security
Investigations unit, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Justice Department. The agents were looking for evidence the company had
imported wood products from forests in far eastern Russian that are home to the endangered Siberian tiger, a person familiar with the matter said.
Lumber Liquidators Import Probe
Follows Gibson Guitar. Although details were initially sketchy, Lumber Liquidators' stock price
plunged as much as 10% early Friday after a reported raid by federal investigators on its headquarters related to a probe of
illegal imports. In a statement, the top flooring retailer with more than 300 stores nationwide, said it would provide
to investigators information and documents related to the import of certain products. The Department of Homeland Security,
along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Justice conducted the raid, acting under a sealed court-issued warrant.
Lumber
Liquidators watches its stock tumble after government raid. Investor's Business Daily
reported that the raid was part of a probe into possible illegal imports. The company said they
don't know why they've been targeted. The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Fish
and Wildelife Service executed a sealed court-issued search warrant on Thursday at the headquarters
and also at one of the stores in Richmond, Virginia.
Aha! Another
Republican-Supporting Business Raided. Thursday, Federal agents raided Lumber Liquidators. Lumber Liquidators advertises heavily
on The Rush Limbaugh Show and even put in the flooring for one of Rush's studios.
Gibson
Exercises Property Rights, Sense of Humor. The Gibson guitar company, having had its federally seized wood returned
to it, is celebrating with the release of a new product made from that very wood: the Les Paul Government II Series.
Gibson
Sticks Thumb in Obama Administration's Eye with 'Government Series' Guitars. At the time of the raid, Gibson Guitars CEO
Henry Juszkiewicz told Hugh Hewitt on his radio show that the feds confiscated tonewood imported from India for the guitar Gibson
manufacturers which would result in a cost of $2 to $3 million for his company. At a great expense in legal fees
and time, Juszkiewicz fought the federal government tooth and nail. But in August 2012, he settled with the Department of
Justice by agreeing to pay a penalty of $300,000 and a $50,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
What Gibson Guitars
Did with the Wood the Government Returned. The issue at hand was not that the wood was endangered or illegally harvested, but that
it was not of the proper thickness that would have meant that some labor had been performed on it by workers in India and Madagascar. This
was the law in Madagascar and India as a nod to the unions in those countries. [...] What raised many eyebrows about this governmental action was
that the countries involved, India and Madagascar, indicated that they were not interested in pursuing the matter when contacted by the Department
of Justice. Also, even if Gibson had been guilty, this would have been a civil, not a criminal matter.
Gibson guitars made with seized wood sold out.
What does a company do when it retrieves government-confiscated building materials? If that company is Gibson Guitar Corp., it makes guitars from it.
Late last year, the 120-year-old Nashville music company released a limited series of Les Paul, Explorer, SG and Flying V six-string guitars with
fingerboards made from wood that federal agents had seized in factory raids.
