Free Republic

Hunter Biden shocked the California courtroom on Thursday as he officially entered a guilty plea while jury selection was underway for his federal tax evasion trial. In December Hunter Biden was hit with a 9-count indictment filed in the Central District of California: Tax evasion, failure to file/pay taxes, and false/fraudulent tax return. The charges were handed down by Special Counsel David Weiss after a sweetheart plea deal on tax charges fell apart last summer. The indictment details a “four-year scheme” to avoid the $1.4+ million tax obligations he owed between 2016 and 2019 and to file false returns. Hunter...

A group of Chinese virologists released a strange new paper on Monday that claims the new coronavirus was engineered in a Chinese lab. One of the virologists, Li-Meng Yan, told the Fox News host Tucker Carlson it was a "man-made virus" that the Chinese government released "intentionally." Yan and her coauthors work for groups cofounded by the former Trump strategist Steve Bannon. He directed the groups before his arrest in August. Some members of the Trump administration have pushed a fringe theory that the virus accidentally leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, but there's no evidence of this.

An Auburn woman has been charged with setting fire to a historic Montgomery church last week. Xiaoqin Yan, 27, is charged with second-degree arson, according to court records made public Tuesday. Yan was arrested Oct. 4 and remains held in the Montgomery County Detention Center on $30,000 bond. According to charging documents against Yan, she used an “open flame to ignite an ignitable liquid,” causing $25,000 in damage to First Baptist Church on Perry Street. According to court records, Yan is a citizen of China who is in the U.S. on a student visa. Her visa has now been revoked....

Penn Yan, N.Y. – An illegal alien was tracked by K9 units after allegedly stabbing two people at a home north of Penn Yan on Route 14 Sunday.... Maximo Tenango, 30, was located and arrested about a mile from the scene, less than four hours after the stabbings. The victims were treated at Geneva General Hospital for non life-threatening injuries. Tenango, who had previously been deported four times, is in the Yates County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. In addition to assault charges, he faces illegal entry charges.

Inner Mongolia Yields New Discoveries More than 80 leading archeological experts are participating in an international conference in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to exchange the latest information on Hongshan, a prehistoric relics site. Relics excavated at the Hongshan ("Red Mountain") site originated around 5000 BC to 6500 BC. Now a part of Chifeng City, the site was discovered in 1935. Some of the relics found at Hongshan have led archeologists to conclude that the heads of Chinese dragons may have been inspired by boars in addition to horses and cattle. Primitive people who struggled to survive by fishing and...