\nMay 28, 2013<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nPhoto by sabre_x, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
News that the IRS targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny could be the reason why a guitar manufacturer underwent a federal raid on their factory nearly two years ago, an editorial published at Investor\u2019s Business Daily<\/a> claims.<\/p>\n On Aug. 24, 2011, the Gibson Guitar factory located in Nashville, Tennessee was raided by federal agents who confiscated rosewood fingerboards of Indian and Madagascar origins. They said the wood violated an amendment<\/a> to the Lacey Act which outlawed the \u201cimport of certain plants and plant products without an import declaration.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGrossly under-reported at the time,\u201d the IBD editorial says, \u201cwas the fact that Gibson\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The report notes that, \u201cinterestingly,\u201d Gibson competitor C.F. Martin & Co. had also used the same type of Indian rosewood, but that, on the other hand, Martin had given hefty contributions of more than $35,000 to \u201cDemocratic candidates and the Democratic National Committee over the past couple of election cycles.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019We feel that Gibson was inappropriately targeted,\u2019 Juszkiewicz said at the time, adding the matter \u2018could have been addressed with a simple contact (from) a caring human being representing the government. Instead, the government used violent and hostile means.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In a 2011 Infowars exclusive interview<\/a> with the Gibson CEO, he revealed the company was even told by court briefing that it should move to Madagascar.<\/p>\n Stranger still, according to the report, 95% of rosewood from India and Madagascar goes to China where it\u2019s turned into luxury items like beds, \u201cSo putting Gibson out of business wasn\u2019t going to do a whole lot to save their forests.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, it was revealed the Internal Revenue Service had singled out conservative political groups applying for tax-exempt status for additional reviews, especially if their applications included the words \u201ctea party\u201d or \u201cpatriot,\u201d reported the Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since that time, we\u2019ve also learned the IRS was under pressure by Democratic senators<\/a> to crack down on conservative organizations as early as 2010, and that even the names of high school and college students<\/a> who were mentored on conservative political philosophy were requested in the probe.<\/p>\n IRS questionnaires were also absurdly invasive<\/a>, asking questions about which candidates were endorsed, the types of lobbying efforts supported, details or transcripts from speeches given and even the contents of pro-life groups\u2019 prayers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Claiming Fox News was \u201cIn desperate search for a scandal,\u201d George Soros-funded Media Matters<\/a> argued that the Gibson CEO himself had denied their raid was due to a \u201cpolitical issue,\u201d even though Juszkiewicz also said he had personally written Obama and gotten no response. In the past, Infowars and others have exposed Media Matters as little more than an Obama administration attack dog, meeting with the White House on a weekly basis<\/a> to strategize ways to influence and direct the media.<\/p>\n