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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What an indictment means for Trump's presidential bid
Former President Donald Trump can still be elected president again -- even if he is convicted -- experts tell ABC News.
But there are practical reasons that could make it a challenge, the experts told ABC News after Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in March.
Read more here.
Who is special counsel Jack Smith?
Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Jack Smith in November 2022 as special counsel to oversee the DOJ's investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified materials after leaving office.
Former colleagues have characterized Smith, a longtime federal prosecutor and former head of the Justice Department's public integrity section, as an aggressive prosecutor who would not shy away from taking on difficult prosecutorial judgments, with the background and temperament that make him a strong selection for the high-profile role.
Read more about Smith here.
What to expect at Tuesday's arraignment
When the former president arrives at Miami federal court on Tuesday, it will mark an extraordinary moment for the country: Trump will be formally placed under arrest by the very government he was once elected to lead.
Once he is arrested, Trump will be booked and processed as a federal defendant and then appear before a judge for an arraignment.
Trump, or one of his attorneys, will enter a not guilty plea, touching off the prosecution of the former president.
The courthouse has spent the last several days preparing for Trump's arrival, but there is no outward sign Thursday night that he is days away from appearing.
Prior to news of the indictment, members of the special counsel's team were seen going into and out of court and the room where a grand jury has been hearing evidence.
-ABC News' Aaron Katersky
Trump calls investigation a 'hoax'
Former President Donald Trump posted on his social network Truth Social Thursday evening that his lawyers have been informed he's been indicted.
He called the investigation a "hoax" and said he's an "innocent man."
Trump said he has been summoned to appear at the Miami federal courthouse on Tuesday.
Trump's campaign sent out a fundraising email following news of the indictment.
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.