Trump says he'll plead not guilty after federal indictment

Trump is set to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday.

To read live updates from Tuesday's court appearance, click here.

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on federal charges in an investigation into his handling of classified documents, according to an indictment unsealed on Friday.

The indictment comes after more than 100 documents with classified markings were found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in August 2022.

Trump was charged with 37 counts: 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information; one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations.

The indictment of Trump, who has repeatedly denied any allegations of impropriety, is unprecedented for a former president.


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Biden declines to comment

When asked about the indictment during an event in North Carolina on Friday, President Joe Biden told reporters, "I have no comment at all."

Biden didn't respond to questions on if he’s spoken to Attorney General Merrick Garland or if he had a response to comments from Republicans.


Trump aide Walt Nauta charged by special counsel

Walt Nauta, an aide to former President Donald Trump, has been charged by the special counsel as part of the probe into Trump’s taking of classified information, ABC News has learned.

Nauta was indicted by the same grand jury in Florida, sources told ABC News. It is not immediately clear what the exact charges are and an attorney for Nauta declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.

Nauta served as a valet in the Trump White House and left his role to join Trump as a personal aide in early 2021.

Trump praised Nauta in a Truth Social post, writing that he was a Navy veteran "who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide."

"He has done a fantastic job!" Trump said.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Jack Date and John Santucci


Trump attorneys resign in documents case

In the wake of the indictment, two of former President Donald Trump's lawyers have submitted their resignations.

Jim Trusty and John Rowley said they were stepping down in a joint statement.

"This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump, and we will no longer represent him on either the indicted case or the January 6 investigation," they wrote.

Trump, meanwhile, claimed Friday that he had removed two of his attorneys representing him in the documents probe and "will be announcing additional lawyers in the coming days."

"I want to thank Jim Trusty and John Rowley for their work," Trump said on Truth Social, "but they were up against a very dishonest, corrupt, evil, and 'sick' group of people, the likes of which has not been seen before."

Trump said he will be represented in the case by Todd Blanche, who attended Manhattan criminal court with the former president in April, and "a firm to be named later."

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin


Romney: Trump 'brought these charges upon himself'

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."


Details revealed in indictment

The indictment alleged that, after the FBI subpoenaed former President Donald Trump, he "endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents by" actions including: suggesting his attorney falsely tell the FBI and grand jury that he didn’t have documents responsive to the subpoena; directing aide Walt Nauta to move boxes of documents to conceal them from Trump’s attorney, the FBI and grand jury; and causing a false certification to be submitted to the FBI and grand jury saying all documents were provided "while knowing that, in fact, not all such documents has been produced."

The indictment noted that between January 2021 and August 2022, Mar-a-Lago hosted more than 150 social events, including weddings and fundraisers "that together drew tens of thousands of guests."

The indictment mentions five of Trump’s statements in 2016, when still a candidate for president, including when he said in August 2016 that "in my administration I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information."

According to the indictment, on June 2, an attorney for Trump went through the boxes in the storage room, removed 38 documents with classified markings, placed them in a redwood folder and sealed it with clear duct tape.

Trump allegedly asked, "Did you find anything?…. Is it bad? Good?" and they discussed what to do with the documents, according to prosecutors.

Trump's attorney said at that point Trump "made a funny motion as though- well okay why don't you take them with you to your hotel room and if there’s anything really bad in there, like, you know, pluck it out. And that was the motion that he made. He didn't say that."

According to the indictment, Trump and Nauta misled one of the Trump attorneys by moving boxes that contained documents with classified markings so that the attorney would not find the documents and produce them to a federal grand jury.

The indictment details how Nauta allegedly lied to FBI agents in May 2022 when he claimed to have no knowledge of the classified documents being brought to Mar-a-Lago.