I found this website run by Jonathan Turly. He's a legal analyst for CNN and a law professor:

http://jonathanturley.org/2011/09/01/gibson-guitar-raided-for-possible-lacey-act-violations-again/

He provides a link to the actual affadavit signed by the federal investigator to establish probable cause to get the search warrant signed by a judge. He's quoting in detail from the Lacey Act in the affadavit. Turly's writing and the affidavit paints a different picture about Juszkiewicz.

Here's the hard part guys. The affidavit is 32 pages of legalese. You need to read it and digest it before you can make some of these statements I see here. This affidvit doesn't mean the DOJ is right, Gibson could still prove the allegations wrong and win at trial but at least reading it provides a basis for discussion.

All I see from Juszkiewicz is spin. He's not talking about the specific merits of the case. There's an old legal dictum that goes like this:

"If you can't argue the facts, argue the law. If you can't argue the law, argue the facts. If you can't argue the law or the facts, blow smoke."

He's blowing a lot of smoke therefore it's looking more and more to me like he's guilty. I don't believe for a second he doesn't know the Lacey Act inside and out. It's his business to know. If he has done nothing wrong according to that Act he would be quoting chapter and verse from it as well as the affidavit to show the DOJ is full of crap. I've seen this before, remember OJ? Instead he's whipping up public sentiment talking about how the administration wants to kill American jobs or how he's a victim of selective prosecution. Bringing up Martin Guitars is a classic example of throwing political smoke around. Can he prove that Martin is bringing in the exact same wood or is that allegation simply more smoke? It may be true or not true but it's irrelevant anyway. We were all taught as kids that we can't govern our actions based on what others do especially when it's something like this. A CEO of a big company has a responsibility to know what the laws are that impact his business and act accordingly. You may think with good reason that certain laws are completely and totally wrong, you hate them, you work your hard to get them changed and all that's fair but until that happens you better adhere to them or your butt's going to be in a sling.

Years ago I went to traffic school to remove a ticket from my record. They brought in a CHP officer to talk. One guy with an attitude asked him why was he picked out for speeding on the freeway when everybody was doing 80? The cops answer with a smile was simply "because it was your turn".

It's easy to make simplistic blanket statements about how stupid this is concerning Indian workers etc. Read Turly's take on the history behind the Lacey Act. It's not that simple.

Bob

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