Did Dr. Peterson Violate US Law....for a Rug?

[Doctor Scratch]

I'm sure there are some here who remember the controversy involving John Lund, who was caught smuggling antiquities from Jordan and Bethlehem into the US. According to this 2011 SL Trib piece, Lund had "no idea" that what he was doing was illegal. I have no doubt that this sort of thing is more common than one might realize. And indeed, thanks to an "informant's" tip, there is reason to believe that good ol' Dr. Peterson may have also violate U.S. law in the pursuit of acquiring one of his most favored possessions:

oriental carpets and kilims are very definitely one of my weaknesses. I can’t go into a carpet store or a carpet factory without falling in love with at least one carpet. We’ve bought carpets during previous visits here in the Ephesus area and in Egypt. And one of my favorites is a Tabrizi that I bought in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

(emphasis added)

As my informant pointed out, though, importing items into the US from Iran is illegal. And this executive order was signed by no less that Conservative icon, President Ronald Reagan!

But let me play devil's advocate for a moment. Suppose that Dr. Peterson bought the carpet prior to the revolution, the overthrowing of the Shah, and the subsequent tensions with the US. When, exactly, did he purchase this carpet? Reagan's executive order is dated 1987, though my informant noted that it was basically just an update of an order that dates back even earlier--1980 or thereabouts. So, was this order perhaps rescinded? I rather doubt it, because who would have rescinded it? The first Pres. Bush? Clinton? Meanwhile, there is the question of what exactly constitutes an "import." Is the idea here that this only applies to items that would benefit the Iranian government? Does this only apply in cases where large sums of money are involved? Does US Customs give a pass to individuals who are doing as DCP did--i.e., buying a Persian rug for personal use and then bringing it back into the US? I genuinely wonder about these things, and there are a lot of Legal Eagles on the board who might have some insight into this question.

On the other hand--like it or not--there is a rather long history of Latter-day Saints thumbing their noses at the federal government. Is it possible that DCP "smuggled" this rug back into the US, or that he lied to US Customs officers? Or perhaps he was like John Lund, and he was simply ignorant about Reagan's Executive Order? (And if he was ignorant of this, does that mean that he needs to have his Official Conservative Membership Card taken away?)

I admit that my thoughts on this matter are mixed. There is a part of me that says, "No big deal--it's just a rug. Who cares?" Then again, Dr. Peterson is very boastful about his rug collection, and he carries on and on about what a devoted Conservative he is, and he definitely has an anti-authority streak. I can't help but wonder if he *did* deliberately deceive US customs in order to bring this "Iranian import" back into the US. It is a puzzling matter, to be sure.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Well, DCP's office at BYU used to have several ancient artifacts (just like Lund) he loved to flaunt to anyone he thought would be impressed. I have no idea if it was illegal to posses such items, or if DCP even cared.

Whether illegally accessing private Church database/records or illegally importing items, it seems that DCP has no problem bending or even breaking the rules. This quote from DCP is very enlightening and helps explain his mindset:

"If, while hoping that everybody else will be honest and so forth, I can personally prosper through unethical and immoral acts without being detected and without risk, why should I not?." --Daniel Peterson, 6/4/14

[Moksha]

When you thought it was bad enough for Dr. Peterson to smuggle 20 oz bottles of Coca-Cola onto the BYU campus in his faculty diplomatic pouch, we find him violating International Rug Law.

It is best to ignore those Middle Eastern artifacts on the shelf behind his desk dated from 2200 BCE to 720 BCE.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

When you thought it was bad enough for Dr. Peterson to smuggle 20 oz bottles of Coca-Cola onto the BYU campus in his faculty diplomatic pouch, we find him violating International Rug Law.

And by "diplomatic pouch" you mean Depends?

"How much Coca-Cola did DCP smuggle onto BYU's campus? Buttloads." -- Stephen Smoot and John Gee, 2019

[MG 2.0]

I'm sure there are some here who remember the controversy involving John Lund, who was caught smuggling antiquities from Jordan and Bethlehem into the US. According to this 2011 SL Trib piece, Lund had "no idea" that what he was doing was illegal. I have no doubt that this sort of thing is more common than one might realize. And indeed, thanks to an "informant's" tip, there is reason to believe that good ol' Dr. Peterson may have also violate U.S. law in the pursuit of acquiring one of his most favored possessions:

oriental carpets and kilims are very definitely one of my weaknesses. I can’t go into a carpet store or a carpet factory without falling in love with at least one carpet. We’ve bought carpets during previous visits here in the Ephesus area and in Egypt. And one of my favorites is a Tabrizi that I bought in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

(emphasis added)

As my informant pointed out, though, importing items into the US from Iran is illegal. And this executive order was signed by no less that Conservative icon, President Ronald Reagan!

But let me play devil's advocate for a moment. Suppose that Dr. Peterson bought the carpet prior to the revolution, the overthrowing of the Shah, and the subsequent tensions with the US. When, exactly, did he purchase this carpet? Reagan's executive order is dated 1987, though my informant noted that it was basically just an update of an order that dates back even earlier--1980 or thereabouts. So, was this order perhaps rescinded? I rather doubt it, because who would have rescinded it? The first Pres. Bush? Clinton? Meanwhile, there is the question of what exactly constitutes an "import." Is the idea here that this only applies to items that would benefit the Iranian government? Does this only apply in cases where large sums of money are involved? Does US Customs give a pass to individuals who are doing as DCP did--i.e., buying a Persian rug for personal use and then bringing it back into the US? I genuinely wonder about these things, and there are a lot of Legal Eagles on the board who might have some insight into this question.

On the other hand--like it or not--there is a rather long history of Latter-day Saints thumbing their noses at the federal government. Is it possible that DCP "smuggled" this rug back into the US, or that he lied to US Customs officers? Or perhaps he was like John Lund, and he was simply ignorant about Reagan's Executive Order? (And if he was ignorant of this, does that mean that he needs to have his Official Conservative Membership Card taken away?)

I admit that my thoughts on this matter are mixed. There is a part of me that says, "No big deal--it's just a rug. Who cares?" Then again, Dr. Peterson is very boastful about his rug collection, and he carries on and on about what a devoted Conservative he is, and he definitely has an anti-authority streak. I can't help but wonder if he *did* deliberately deceive US customs in order to bring this "Iranian import" back into the US. It is a puzzling matter, to be sure.

Oh my. You should get to the bottom of this.

Regards,
MG

[I Have Questions]

I wonder if the rug was paid for as a tour “expense”…