I'm the owner of twelve Gibson products. This - Gibson, Gibson's CEO, the first raid, the status of the litigation, the emails, the woods involved, the political situation in Madagascar, the fact that goods can be seized as "contraband" and the government doesn't have to bring suit (think of a state trooper catching you with out-of-state liquor, where that's illegal, and simply confiscating it) - were all things that I knew something about. Am I an expert? Heck, no. Is it apparent from posts that I knew more about the back story that most people. Well, yes. Which is why I say it's not black-and-white certain to me that Gibson legally imported its Madagascar Ebony.
Out of all the things you 'know,' I noticed you didn't answer my question about how you 'know' that Gibson's import of Madagascar Ebony was legal.
As for your statement:
Although I’m willing to consider the possibility that this whole mess was caused by an ignorant and inexperienced gov’t functionary assuming that “grey market” was a euphemism for “black market” instead of a legitimate business term.
My guess is that the government didn't have a single email from Gibson until after it raided Gibson the first time and took computers.
I’m willing to accept Gibson’s word that they were legal, based on the fact that they were willing to introduce their supporting documents to the court and the DOJ response is a 2nd spurious raid based on dubious Lacey Act grounds.
Like I said, it’s the government’s job to prove otherwise and no doubt this 2nd raid on a dubious Lacey Act interpretation was really a fishing expedition looking for evidence to counter the civil suit (and to intimidate).
I have zero good faith belief in the credibility and honesty of prosecutors, sorry, I’ve seen to much evidence to the contrary and the Holder Justice Dept. is on corruption steroids.
My guess is that the government didn't have a single email from Gibson until after it raided Gibson the first time and took computers.
I meant that after the first raid, their ineptitude and pugnaciousness kept them from backing down and returning the ebony because they thought they had "gotcha" emails because they were ignorant of the actual meaning of grey market as you were.
Regardless of the mess in Madagascar in 2009, the ebony seized was probably not cut and exported in that year and may have been at least a couple of years old and possibly even 5-10 years old and Gibson probably had to scramble to get all the relevant documents and affidavits tracing the chain of possession to document the fact that the shipment was originally legally exported before eventually being purchased by Gibson.