I have much the same to say as Uwe.
I have a lot of respect for Judge Napolitano's views on the constitution and civil liberties, but he's dead wrong here on the facts.
1. The raid wasn't authorized by DOJ; they didn't get involved until after the raid. it was done because Fish & Wildlife found contraband wood in a shipment. And F&W didn't even know Gibson was involved at first since Gibson's name wasn't on the shipment even though it should have been since it was the final destination.
2. Henry J. and Gibson had never been big Republican donors, they gave small donations to both Republican and Democratic candidates.
3. Luthiers Mercantile (LMI), who was listed as the importer, was raided, too. They have no connection to Republican politics. They had more wood taken than Gibson did.
4. C. F. Martin wasn't raided because they didn't do what Gibson did. Indian Rosewood is a species, it doesn't necessarily come from India, and Martin has years of wood inventory anyway.
5. Gibson continued to do this despite warnings after previously being caught in that 2009 raid. Martin and others in the business warned against this.
Personal opinion here: there was no "mistake" about the wood. It was classified as veneer to evade India's 5-year export moratorium, which exempted veneer. If you think it was an innocent mistake, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.
FWIW, Gibson not only admitted fault, the rosewood boards they are using now are laminated from sheets of veneer. Other companies continue to use non-laminated Indian rosewood boards they got legitimately.
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