Free Republic

Yesterday, Hunter Biden was finally indicted — on tax charges. Here is a copy of the indictment, filed by Special Counsel David Weiss in the Central District of California, and signed by his principal deputy Leo Wise. The nine counts include three felonies. The indictment makes for moderately entertaining reading. The gist is that Hunter Biden, rather than paying taxes of about $1.4 million that he acknowledged he owed for years 2016-19, instead “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle.” Well, we all knew that. A more important question is why it has taken until now to produce an...

No cause of death was given. Ryan O'Neal was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012, a decade after he was first diagnosed with chronic leukemia. He was 82.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/grantdegraf_lets-follow-the-money-activity-7138602054746382336-gwWL?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

ESK DZRV JKSBYVSN ZU ESK VQWD VQFS H NKZW ZI NSC ZU H IVZCSK. — PQAJZK ERXZ

A new report just released by the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has offered shocking new insights into the full extent of the FBI’s efforts to use government power and resources to target, intimidate, and harass Catholics, pro-life activists, and other members of the religious community. The December 4 report found, among other disturbing revelations, that the FBI “abused its counterterrorism tools to target Catholic Americans as potential domestic terrorists” when agency operatives in Richmond, Virginia, circulated a memo designating so-called “radical-traditionalist Catholic[s]” as potential “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.” “The Committee and Select Subcommittee...

Russia said that reports of proposals to flood the tunnels were shocking and warned that "if done, this will be a war crime." "Such flooding could be considered analogous to 'do not spare them' order, but it is not only about that and not only about civilians who may be in those tunnels," the statement read. "Of course, there most likely will be civilians, for where else would they go from the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza." Over the last two months, Russia has repeatedly condemned Israel's actions in Gaza, with Vladimir Putin initially blaming the Hamas attacks in Israel as...

A Florida plastic surgeon is under investigation after his surgery-obsessed wife suffered a cardiac arrest while on his operating table. Hillary Brown, 33, went under the knife on November 21 at her husband Dr Ben Brown's clinic, Restore Plastic Surgery, in Gulf Breeze Florida, before suffering a medical emergency in the middle of 'several procedures.' A mother of three young children from a previous marriage, Brown spent a week in a coma before she passed away, as she was taken off life support when it was determined her brain had been starved of oxygen. Her husband's clinic is reportedly facing...

During a Fox News interview, the Florida governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis asks voters from all over America to descend on Iowa and caucus in support of Ron. Casey remarks, “You do not have to be a resident of Iowa to be able to participate in the Caucus.” You cannot legally caucus vote for a candidate in Iowa without being an Iowa resident. Notice how Ron just sits there and lets Casey say something that is transparently false. Martha MacCallum just sits there like a potted plant on behalf of Fox News. Unreal.

Billboars plastered with the phrase 'New York City Welcomes Immigrants' are popping up across El Paso, promising migrants that it's a 'sanctuary city.' The signs have appeared around the Texas border city in the last few days on roadside announcements and on the sides of trucks. A member of 'Concerned Americans,' the group behind the billboards, explained the messages are meant to let border crossers know New York, Chicago and San Francisco are open to having them in their community. 'The cities that we're pointing to are those that welcome undocumented immigrants even if you're homeless or have committed crimes,"...

This is the horrifying moment a man's wife allegedly flew into a jealous rage and set him on fire at a fish market she owns in Brazil. André Chapeta, 50, died on Friday less than a week after sustaining devastating burn injuries. The incident took place Monday at a store in Rio de Janeiro when Ana María Paixaõ spotted Chapeta sitting at a table. A surveillance camera showed Paixaõ walking past the counter and appearing to open a bottle before dousing a flammable liquid over his body. The woman allegedly then flicked a lighter and set him on fire. Chapeta...

I’ve written several columns in this space about the weird media meltdown in response to new U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. First, journalists rushed to tell on themselves by mocking the fact that Johnson and his son use Covenant Eyes, an accountability software designed to help people keep their lives porn-free. Then there was the spate of stories breathlessly informing us that Johnson, a self-confessed Christian, does in fact believe all sorts of Christian things. The term “Christian nationalist” has been chucked about quite a bit, although what those using it actually mean is “Christian in the public...

Joe Biden botched his big announcement about rail investment on Friday, declaring that the federal government would spend 'over a billion, three hundred million, trillion, three hundred million dollars'. The president was in Las Vegas, unveiling $8.2 billion in new federal funding for 10 major passenger rail projects across the country. Among them is a new line from the Nevada city to Los Angeles, which when completed - potentially as soon as 2028 - can carry over 11 million passengers a year, powered entirely by renewable energy. Biden mocked his predecessor for repeatedly promising Infrastructure Week, but failing to deliver....

Josh Giddey can't be suspended on 'allegation alone', NBA commissioner Adam Silver says amid probe into claims of an inappropriate relationship between the Thunder star and a minor Pictures and videos of Giddey and the minor surfaced on social media last month Giddey appeared in all of the Thunder's six games since the investigation began Josh Giddey continues to play for the Oklahoma City Thunder because he can't be suspended over an 'allegation alone,' NBA commissioner Adam Silver said amid a criminal probe into claims the Australian basketball star had an inappropriate relationship with a minor. Giddey, 21, is accused...

Children and straight men are being encouraged to explore “gay” and “transgender” sexual identities through “mainstream” pornography, staff members of the pornography giant Aylo, which owns Pornhub, said in undercover interviews.In the latest installment of a series of undercover videos released to social media by reporter Arden Young with investigative journalism outfit Sound Investigations, two top Aylo (formerly Mindgeek) employees said pornography has “educational elements to it,” can help children as young as 12 explore their sexual identity and gender, and that homosexual and transgender pornography is now being pushed to straight men to “convert” them.

Hamas says US veto blocking Gaza ceasefire 'unethical and inhumane' Hamas strongly condemns the US veto that blocked a proposed United Nations Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, a senior Hamas official said late on Friday in an official statement, saying that the group considers Washington's move "unethical and inhumane." "The US obstruction of the issuance of a ceasefire resolution is a direct participation with the occupation in killing our people and committing more massacres and ethnic cleansing," Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the terrorist group's political bureau, said.

Emmanuel Macron has been accused of betraying the French Republic after he took part in a Jewish ceremony inside his official residence, the Elysée Palace. In a country where the separation of religion is itself a religion, the lighting of a Hanukkah candle inside the historic Salle des Fêtes on Thursday was immediately denounced by politicians of both right and left. The president had invited France's Chief Rabbi Haïm Korsia to light the first of eight candles on a Hanukkiah, or candelabra, marking the start of the Jewish festival of lights. The occasion was the award to President Macron of...

The indictment against Hunter Biden filed in the US Court for the Central District of California this week charges him with evading $1.4 million in taxes owed to the federal government for the years 2016 through 2019. Instead of paying his taxes during these years, he spent $683,000 on prostitutes, $397,000 on clothing, $309,000 on tuition, $237,000 on health & beauty products, $189,000 on porn, $72,000 on rehab, $24,000 on entertainment, $24,000 on sports, $237,000 on miscellaneous, and withdrew $1.6 million in cash from ATMs. Hunter Biden blamed Donald Trump for his troubles, saying "Trump's Russian-aided theft of the 2016...

The Republican National Committee on Friday afternoon said it would pause participation in further Republican presidential primary debates, effectively leaving decisions around future debates up to media organizations and the 2024 Republican presidential candidates themselves.

Do you believe the politicians in Washington or do you believe your own eyes? The politicians keep telling us that “inflation is low”, but everyone can see that everything sure does cost a lot more than it once did. Our standard of living just keeps going down, and even JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is admitting that “inflation is hurting people”. But how can inflation be “hurting people” if it is under control? Of course the truth is that it isn’t under control. If the official rate of inflation was still measured using the formula that was in place in...

A black Alabama man who had been tasered by a white cop and arrested for trafficking fentanyl is now sharing his harrowing story. Officer Dana Elmore was seen on camera swearing and tasing Micah Washington, 24, with a stun gun while he was in handcuffs. He was charged with trafficking fentanyl, but the charge and its accompanying $500,000 bond were dropped after 'further testing' showed the substance in his possession was not the opioid drug. In an interview with ABC, Washington revealed what had happened during the incident and explained that he had never had a run-in or issue with...