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.
Latest headlines:
Federal indictment expected to be 'speaking indictment': Sources
The federal indictment against former President Donald Trump is expected to be a "speaking indictment" that will lay out chapter and verse the government's case to the public, according to sources.
Read more about what an indictment means here.
-ABC News' Ivan Pereira
Trump team anticipated indictment for several days: Sources
Former President Donald Trump's team has been anticipating a federal indictment for the past several days, sources said.
Sources said his team is already planning a trip down to Miami and is thinking of holding a campaign event around this indictment.
-ABC News' John Santucci
DOJ, White House decline to comment
Spokespeople for the Justice Department and Special Counsel Jack Smith's office declined to comment Thursday evening on Trump's announcement he was informed of his indictment.
White House Spokesperson Ian Sams also declined to comment on Trump saying his attorneys have been informed he has been indicted in the classified documents investigation.
Sams referred ABC News to the DOJ, which he said "conducts its criminal investigations independently."
-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Alexander Mallin
Trump charged in 'rocket docket' court -- and why that could matter
Former President Donald Trump will face charges in the Southern District of Florida, a venue whose reputation for swift proceedings has earned it "rocket docket" status -- a colloquialism that reflects its strict adherence to the speedy trial clock.
Walter Norkin, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida, explains why that might be notable.
"The Southern District of Florida is one of the few districts in the country that operates under a 'rocket docket' and, in distinction from the District of Columbia, you can expect a criminal case to be resolved within six months of an indictment issuing," Norkin told ABC News. "The judges in the Southern District of Florida adhere very strictly to the Speedy Trial clock, which, with limited exceptions, requires trial or conviction to occur within 70 days."
As a strategic matter, according to Norkin, the special counsel may have chosen this particular venue as a means to circumvent that inclination as prosecutors face the prospect of "certain policy considerations that take effect as an election nears."
"To the extent a defense strategy would be to delay trial," Norkin continued, "they will have a heavier burden executing that plan in Southern District of Florida than they would in another district."
-ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman
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