Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C., Thursday afternoon after being indicted on charges that stem from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, faces four federal charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The former president is expected to travel from Bedminster, New Jersey, to Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He was ordered to appear in federal court for a 4 p.m. arraignment.

This is the second federal indictment the former president faces out of Smith’s investigation. Trump, who leads the 2024 GOP presidential primary field, has already pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to his alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency.

Those charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements. Trump was charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of that probe last week.

Trump is the first former president in U.S. history to face federal criminal charges. 

‘The Defendant, Donald J. Trump, was the forty-fifth President of the United States and a candidate for re-election in 2020. The Defendant lost the 2020 presidential election,’ Smith’s indictment states. ‘Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to remain in power.’

Smith alleged that ‘for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020’ Trump ‘spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won.’ It lists various claims that Trump’s team made during post-election state challenges in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

‘These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false,’ Smith alleged. ‘But the Defendant repeated and widely disseminated them anyway — to make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election.’

Smith said Trump, between Nov. 14, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2021, ‘did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to defraud the United States by using dishonest, fraud and deceit to impair, obstruct and defeat the lawful federal government function by which the results of the presidential election are collected, counted, and certified by the federal government.’

There are six unnamed co-conspirators in the indictment.

Reacting to the charges, a Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement that ‘this is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed front-runner, and leading by substantial margins.’

‘But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump’s winning campaign for 2024? Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress?’ the spokesperson wrote.

‘The answer is, election interference!’ the spokesperson continued. ‘The lawlessness of these persecutions of President Trump and his supporters is reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the former Soviet Union, and other authoritarian, dictatorial regimes.’

‘President Trump has always followed the law and the Constitution, with advice from many highly accomplished attorneys,’ the spokesperson added.

The indictment comes after Trump had announced that he received a target letter from the Justice Department, which also asked that he report to the federal grand jury. Trump said he anticipated ‘an arrest and indictment.’

Smith was investigating whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results in favor of President Biden.

The House of Representatives drafted articles of impeachment against him again and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — making him the first and only president in history to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice.

The Senate voted to acquit but, had Trump been convicted, the Senate would have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever again, preventing a 2024 White House run.

Trump has also pleaded not guilty to 34 counts in New York in April stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. Trump is accused of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.

Elsewhere, prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are looking to wrap up their criminal investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

First son Hunter Biden sent a series of texts to his now-former friend and business partner in 2019 defending his family’s name when pressed about them not stepping in when the Obama-Biden administration’s DOJ arrested him, insisting the friend was ‘a Biden’ also and saying his legal troubles were the ‘price of power.’ 

Text messages reviewed by Fox News Digital show an awkward March 6, 2019 conversation between Biden and Devon Archer a little over a month before hid dad announced he was running for president in April 2019.

‘Why did your dad’s administration appointees arrest me and try to put me in jail?’ Archer asked Biden. ‘Just curious. Some of our partners asking out here.’

‘Why would they try and ruin my family and destroy my kids and no one from your family’s side step in and at least try to help me. I don’t get it,’ Archer continued.

Archer went on to say he was ‘depressed’ and ‘curious’ because ‘these Asians,’ appearing to refer to their Chinese business partners, were asking the same questions and ‘getting in [his] head.’

‘Buddy are you serious,’ Biden responded. ‘Because. There’s no connection between the two, the same the justice department can investigate and prosecute this president and his family it does for all administrations. It’s democracy. Three co equal (sic) branches of government.’

‘You are always more vulnerable to the overreach of those Co equal branches when you are in power. Every presidents family is held to a higher standard is a target (sic),’ Biden continued. ‘It’s the price of being the most powerful group of people in the world. It’s why our democracy remains viable.’

‘It’s unfair at times but in the end the system of justice usually works and like you we are redeemed and the truth prevails,’the first son added. ‘The unfairness allows for the greater good.’

Archer responded that he was ‘depressed’ and that he loves Biden ‘anyway,’ writing everyone other than the younger Biden ‘sucks including them all.’

‘And your brother was with me,’ Archer added, referring to Biden’s late brother, Beau.

‘Yes he was and I always am and turn the discussion around Devon. Every great family is persecuted prosecuted in the us (sic),’ Biden wrote. ‘You are part of a great family — not a side show not deserted by them even in your darkest moments.’

‘That’s the way Bidens are different and you are a Biden. It’s the price of power and the people questioning you truly have none whereas you do through perseverance and poise,’ Biden added, appearing to refer to the DOJ.

Archer responded that he loved Biden and apologized for the texts, saying he was a ‘long way from home for a couple weeks and [the] demons are talking to [him].’

‘I love you too buddy. And know that I understand, but please of all the people in the world to decide to put the blame on please don’t let it be me. Almost Every other person in my life has done that and I’m somehow the source of all their disappointments. I’m beginning to believe all of them.’

‘And we aren’t a banana republic buddy. The powerful are targets in this country the more powerful they become,’ Biden continued. ‘But the truth prevails if you have the stamina and guts and enough love to stay the course.’

‘I never blame you [by the way,]’ Archer responded.

Archer was a co-founder of Biden’s now-dissolved investment firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners (RSP), managing director of Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP), an RSP affiliate, and he co-founded BHR Partners, a Beijing-backed private equity firm controlled by Bank of China Limited.

However, Archer was forced to resign from BHR Partners in May 2016 after he came under federal investigation for defrauding a Native American tribe.

The 2019 texts, which were sent months after Archer expressed excitement that U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan threw out his conviction in November 2018, were reviewed by Fox News Digital a couple of days after Archer spoke to members of the House Oversight Committee about his business dealings with Hunter Biden on Monday.

Biden told his longtime friend and business partner that they would get the ‘last laugh’ after Archer said a judge threw out his conviction, according to 2018 text messages previously reviewed by Fox News Digital.

‘Thank f—ing god! First good news in way too long my friend. I am so happy for you. I know its (sic) been a living hell but put it behind you now and take great steps forward,’ Biden replied.

‘Love you brother,’ Archer said.

Biden then appeared to refer to the Department of Justice as ‘motherf—ers’ and said he and Archer will ‘have the last laugh.’

‘I know. And I mean it. Can I please come see you now that I’m not a felon!?!’ Archer said. ‘Don’t answer that. Just when and where?’

Biden joked that he liked Archer ‘better as a felon’ and that he was in Newburyport, Massachusetts, for the next week but to call him.

During the closed-door interview on Monday, Archer confirmed President Biden ‘lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son’s business dealings and was not involved,’ according to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. 

Archer also said that Hunter Biden put his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone while meeting with business partners at least 20 times. Archer described how Biden was put on the phone to sell ‘the brand.’

Lawyers for Hunter Biden and Archer did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday he doesn’t believe the U.S. government ‘has told the truth’ concerning the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, specifically on the possible involvement of the Saudi Arabian government.

Ramaswamy made the comments during an appearance on BlazeTV. 

‘I don’t believe the government has told us the truth,’ Ramswamy said. ‘Again, I’m driven by evidence and data. What I’ve seen in the last several years is we have to be skeptical of what the government does tell us.’ 

‘I haven’t seen evidence to the contrary, but do I believe everything the government told us about it? Absolutely not. Do I believe the 9/11 Commission? Absolutely not,’ he said.

When reached for comment, Ramaswamy’s campaign pointed to a post he made on social media following the interview in which he reiterated the government had not been ‘completely forthright’ about the attacks.

‘Do I believe our government has been completely forthright about 9/11? No. Al- Qaeda clearly planned and executed the attacks, but we have never fully addressed who knew what in the Saudi government about it. We *can* handle the TRUTH,’ he wrote.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Saudi Arabian embassy for comment. 

Supporters of former President Donald Trump and other conservatives lashed out at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for what they said was an underwhelming response to news of the latest indictment against Trump and said it shows he’s the wrong pick for 2024.

‘As President, I will end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans,’ DeSantis tweeted shortly after news broke Tuesday that Trump had been indicted on charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

‘While I’ve seen reports, I have not read the indictment. I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts. Washington, DC is a ‘swamp’ and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality. One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law. No more excuses — I will end the weaponization of the federal government.’

The DeSantis tweet calling for an end to the weaponization of government was seen over 4 million times and ‘ratioed’ mostly by Trump supporters and surrogates. They accused the Florida Republican of not speaking out forcefully enough against the specific targeting of Trump, not mentioning him by name and not promising a pardon.

‘It makes me really sad that the best, most based governor in America decided to base his entire presidential campaign on not knowing what time it is,’ Federalist CEO Sean Davis tweeted. ‘Robotically reciting ‘I will enact reforms’ is not how you respond when a corrupt government announces that it plans to throw its opposition in prison for the crime of opposition.’

‘Not a wartime conservative,’ political commentator Jack Posobiec tweeted.

‘YOUR TOP POLITICAL OPPONENT IS BEING UNJUSTLY PERSECUTED,’ Fox News contributor Caitlyn Jenner tweeted. ‘Agree to pardon him! This is a sham and you know it. But you hope you benefit from it. SHAME ON TEAM DESANTIS!’

DeSantis was criticized by some, including author Mike Cernovich, for not reading the indictment before he posted.

‘‘While I’ve seen reports, I have not read the indictment’ – sir, the indictment dropped 15 mins *before* you tweeted this,’ Vivek Ramaswamy Comms Director Zachery Henry tweeted. ‘This boilerplate statement doesn’t cut it.’

‘Had a chance to read this BS from the regime trying to interfere in the election by removing your number one political opponent on sham charges (for the third time) yet?’ Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington tweeted.  ‘Give me a break. How do you beat the deep state if your goals are the same as theirs?’

Ramaswamy, another Trump rival for the nomination, said after the indictment news that ‘the corrupt federal police just won’t stop until they’ve achieved their mission: eliminate Trump. This is un-American & I commit to pardoning Trump for this indictment.’

The DeSantis campaign pointed Fox News Digital to a clip posted on their War Room Twitter account showing the Florida Republican speaking more at length about the indictment.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

FIRST ON FOX: Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., are warning that the Biden administration is clearly misinterpreting a bipartisan law passed last year as it works to withhold funding from schools that offer hunting and archery courses.

The warning from the two senators comes after Fox News Digital reported the Department of Education is interpreting the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) to preclude federal funding for school hunter education and archery programs nationwide. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. — who both sponsored the bill with Sinema and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. — have also criticized the administration for its BSCA implementation.

‘We agree with Sens. Cornyn and Tillis — this is not Congressional intent, hunting and archery classes should be eligible for funding and not penalized, and we are working with lawmakers on both sides and the Administration to ensure this gets fixed,’ Hannah Hurley, a spokesperson for Sinema, told Fox News Digital.

The BSCA — which was criticized as a ‘gun control’ bill, but touted by proponents as an effort to promote ‘safer, more inclusive and positive’ schools — was introduced, passed overwhelmingly by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in June 2022 after subsequent mass shootings at a grocery market in Buffalo, New York, and a school in Uvalde, Texas.

The BSCA included an amendment to a subsection in the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) listing prohibited uses for federal school funding. That amendment prohibits ESEA funds from helping provide any person with a dangerous weapon or to provide ‘training in the use of a dangerous weapon.’

Federal guidance obtained last week by Fox News Digital was circulated among hunting education groups earlier this week, highlighting that the Department of Education has interpreted the BSCA’s amendment to the ESEA to mean elementary and secondary school courses teaching children about shooting sports are prohibited from receiving critical federal funds.

‘The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill that addressed gun violence and mental health in our schools,’ Manchin told Fox News Digital in a statement Wednesday. 

‘Any defunding of schools who offer critical programs like archery and hunting clubs would be a gross misinterpretation of the legislation and yet another example of this Administration trying to advance their radical agenda with blatant disregard for the law,’ he continued.

In a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona last month, Cornyn and Tillis added that the Education Department’s interpretation of the BSCA ‘contradicts congressional intent and the text of the BSCA.’

Murphy, the fourth sponsor on the BSCA and only sponsor who hasn’t weighed in on the Education Department’s guidance blocking funding for hunting and archery programs, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

Several other GOP lawmakers have also blasted the Biden administration in response to the funding decision. On Tuesday, Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, introduced legislation that would clarify school programs ‘training students in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports’ are eligible for funding.

‘Letting Washington bureaucrats, sitting in a half-empty air-conditioned building in the Swamp, make arbitrary decisions about what kids in Tennessee should and should not learn is the antithesis of federalism,’ Green told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. ‘Archery and other shooting sports are valuable to our children. The federal government’s overreach needs to stop, now.’

In addition, hunting and pro-Second Amendment groups like Safari Club International, National Shooting Sports Foundation, International Order of T. Roosevelt, Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation and National Rifle Association have also criticized the Education Department.

‘Without the next generation of hunters, the conservation programs that our nation relies on to preserve wildlands and wildlife will be in peril. This is a direct attack by anti-hunting forces via their allies in the Biden Administration,’ said Luke Hilgemann, the executive director of the International Order of T. Roosevelt.

‘The International Order of T. Roosevelt will explore every means possible to block this ridiculous overstep. We must protect our heritage for the next generation.’

Florida officials said Wednesday that nearly 40% of the people arrested in one part of the state in a recent operation cracking down on child sex exploitation were in the U.S. illegally — amid continued concerns from Republicans about criminals and sex offenders coming in across the southern border.

Officials said that seven out of 19 people arrested in Bay County, Florida, were in the country illegally. Five have no record showing lawful entry into the U.S. One man was admitted on a B-2 visitors visa that expired in 2021, and another was admitted on a J-1 student visa that also expired in 2021.

Of those arrested in Bay County, 14 were arrested for traveling to engage in sexual activity with a minor. Five were arrested for possession of child pornography.

Operation Cross Country XIII was a nationwide operation involving the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Nationally it led to the identification or arrest of 126 suspects of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking offenses.

That operation also located 59 missing children during the two-week operation. 

‘Sex traffickers exploit and endanger some of the most vulnerable members of our society and cause their victims unimaginable harm,’ Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the results of the national operation. ‘This operation, which located 59 actively missing children, builds on the tremendous work the FBI has undertaken over many years to rescue minor victims and arrest those responsible for these unspeakable crimes.’ 

In the operation headquartered in Bay County, the operation was held over a three-day period in July and involved cooperation between the FBI, HSI and Florida law enforcement.

Those arrested are the latest illegal immigrants to be tied to sex offenses, amid an ongoing national debate about the border crisis that the U.S. has been dealing with since 2021.

Republican critics, of whom Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been one of the loudest, have accused the Biden administration of making America less safe by adopting ‘open border’ policies. Critics have noted the enormous number of migrants who have evaded Border Patrol. There were approximately 600,000 ‘gotaways’ in FY 2022, officials have estimated.

The administration has denied the accusations, saying it is focused on rebuilding an asylum system decimated by the prior administration, while narrowing the focus of its ICE agents to focus on illegal immigrants who are public safety and national security threats. It has also called on Congress to pass a sweeping immigration reform bill and provide additional funding as it has requested. It has also touted its anti-smuggling operations in the U.S. and with international partners.

Last week, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said that agents had encountered three sex offenders in a single day.

On Thursday, Texas Department of Public Safety announced that its troopers had arrested an illegal immigrant from Mexico for the possession or promotion of child pornography.