Free Republic

FIRST ON FOX: Hunter Biden and his longtime business partner Eric Schwerin were actively working behind the scenes in 2016 to solicit donations for a top former Biden adviser's congressional campaign while also working on Chinese business deals with the adviser's business partner, according to emails reviewed and authenticated by Fox News Digital. Francis "Fran" Person, who served in the Obama administration as an adviser to then-Vice President Biden and a special assistant to President Obama between 2009 and 2014, left the White House in late July 2014 for an advisory role at the University of South Carolina, his alma...

Investigators are probing the possibility that 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh — who was facing trial in connection with the death of a young woman — may have been the one marked in the attack, The Island Packet reported. The University of South Carolina student and Maggie Murdaugh, 52, were found shot to death Monday on their sprawling estate in the center of the state. It remains unclear if the shootings were related to the 2019 tragedy, the report said. No arrests have been made. Sources told the newspaper that Murdaugh was shot at least twice with a shotgun, while his mother...

A new Guardian series, United States of Plastic, will scrutinize the plastic crisis engulfing America and the world, publishing several more stories this week and continuing for the rest of 2019. “People don’t know what’s happening to their trash,” said Andrew Spicer, who teaches corporate social responsibility at the University of South Carolina and sits on his state’s recycling advisory board. “They think they’re saving the world. But the international recycling business sees it as a way of making money. There have been no global regulations – just a long, dirty market that allows some companies to take advantage of...

COLUMBIA, SC A man who police believe is responsible for setting fires at two houses owned by Gov. Henry McMaster Tuesday morning attempted to set a third one, according to Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook. The third fire, however, did not take, Holbrook said. It was unclear if the third house was owned by McMaster. Police detained the man, who has not been identified, in connection with the fires near the University of South Carolina campus Tuesday morning. All three homes were on or near Greene Street between Five Points and the campus. Columbia police and SLED investigators were still...

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A professor who taught anatomy and physiology and was highly regarded by both his students and fellow faculty members was shot and killed by his ex-wife in an apparent murder-suicide at the University of South Carolina, a coroner said Friday. Sunghee Kwon shot Raja Fayad several times in the upper body Thursday afternoon in a fourth-floor office at the university's Public Health building, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said in a news release. Kwan then committed suicide with a gunshot to her stomach, the coroner said. A 9 mm pistol with an empty magazine was found near...