Trump says he'll plead not guilty after federal indictment

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said in a statement Friday that Donald Trump "brought these charges upon himself by not only taking classified documents, but by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so."

"These allegations are serious and if proven, would be consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest, such as withholding defensive weapons from Ukraine for political reasons and failing to defend the Capitol from violent attack and insurrection," Romney said.

The senator added that he thinks it appears "the Justice Department and special counsel have exercised due care" and offered Trump "time and opportunity to avoid charges that would not generally have been afforded to others."

Former Vice President Mike Pence, Donald Trump's former running mate turned 2024 presidential campaign rival, said on "The Hugh Hewitt Show" Friday that he was unhappy about the indictment, but added that "no one is above the law."

"I'm deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward," Pence said.

"But let me be very clear: No one is above the law," he added.

"We have to protect our nation's secrets. And my only hope is, as we learn about the facts of this indictment next week, that the American people will see in this case that it would meet a high standard necessary to justify the unprecedented federal indictment of a former president of the United States by, by the current president of the United States' Justice Department and by a potential rival," Pence said.

Pence also called for the indictment to be unsealed and for Attorney General Merrick Garland to address the nation.

"I think before the sun sets today, the attorney general of the United States should be standing in front of the American people, should unseal this indictment, should provide the American people with all the facts and information here. And the American people be able to judge for themselves whether this is just the latest incident of weaponization and politicization at the Justice Department or it's something different," he said.

When asked if FBI Director Christopher Wray "needs to go," Pence did not respond directly but said he would "clean house" if elected president.

"Whether it's the Justice Department or whether it's the FBI, I think -- I just think we need a whole new team. I think there's been a, you know, literally a collapse of confidence," Pence said.

-ABC News' Libby Cathey and Oren Oppenheim

The summons sent to former President Donald Trump his legal team late Thursday indicates that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon will be assigned to oversee his case, at least initially, according to sources briefed on the matter.

Cannon's apparent assignment would add yet another unprecedented wrinkle to a case involving the first federal charges against a former president: Trump appointed Cannon to the federal bench in 2019, meaning that, if Trump is ultimately convicted, she would be responsible for determining the sentence -- which may include prison time -- for the man who elevated her to the role.

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Former President Donald Trump said on an audio recording in 2021 that he had taken classified information with him to his Florida home after leaving the White House, ABC News has confirmed.

Trump is heard on that audio recording described to ABC News as saying, "As president I could have declassified, but now I can't."

The recording, first reported Friday morning by CNN, was made as part of an interview Trump gave for a book and was obtained by the special counsel’s team.

According to a portion of the transcript of the call obtained by ABC News, Trump is heard acknowledging that the document he claims to have is "highly confidential" and "secret."

"Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. This was done by the military and given to me," according to a transcript of the audio obtained by ABC News.

The transcript appears to suggest that Trump is showing the document in question to those in the room.

"Well, with Milley -- uh, let me see that, I'll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn't that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this -- this is off the record, but -- they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him," the transcript said. "We looked at some. This was him. This wasn't done by me, this was him. All sorts of stuff -- pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this. This was done by the military and given to me."

-ABC News' John Santucci and Katherine Faulders