lol. Don't ask don't tell, amirite?
It's funny to see HL running through the motions defending themselves on this one. Surely nobody there is stupid enough to think that we actually buy their excuses.
The linked article says that the most we know for sure is that "an expert on cultural property law retained by Hobby Lobby" warned the company of some things and the company ignored those things. It doesn't say who heard the warning, who called the final shots, or what their motives were.
Do you know something these we don't? Perhaps you read a source that I didn't here.
When you spend millions of dollars on antiquities, you are at least casually interested in their provenance... Especially when you've hired an expert.
If you knew the provenance of an item, what it was worth, and how it was obtained, why waste money on hiring an expert?
Did you not read the part of the article
"The acquisition of the Artifacts was fraught with red flags. For example, Hobby Lobby received conflicting information where the Artifacts had been stored prior to the inspection in the UAE. Further, when the Artifacts were presented for inspection to Hobby Lobby’s president and consultant in July 2010, they were displayed informally. In addition, Hobby Lobby representatives had not met or communicated with the dealer who purportedly owned the Artifacts, nor did they pay him for the Artifacts. Rather, following instructions from another dealer, Hobby Lobby wired payment for the Artifacts to seven personal bank accounts held in the names of other individuals."
HOBBY LOBBY WIRED PAYMENT FOR THE ARTIFACTS TO SEVEN PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNTS
LOL. THIS MUST BE HOW THE BIG BOY COLLECTORS DO IT HUH? Just hit up the western union and transfer some cash to a few different bank accounts.... of course. Nothing funny going on.
And there's more
"All of the intercepted packages bore shipping labels that falsely declared that the Artifacts’ country of origin was Turkey."
As long as there is a compelling narrative and complicit media, literally absolute bullshit can be accepted as valid discourse or even valid history.
"Oh so sorry, we just didn't know. First time collectors, you see."
It's about giving talking points to "defenders".