California Rep. Adam Schiff said "it's a sober moment for the country," telling Linsey Davis on ABC News Live on Thursday that the dignity of the Oval Office "will be tarnished by the conduct of the former president by his being charged criminally."

"I think you have to be guided by the facts and the law, and you have to set aside the political calendar and do what the law requires," said Schiff, a leading Democrat in the House. "I think that's the obligation of a district attorney, and I think that was done here. How this cuts politically, I really don't know. That, to me, is very secondary."

-ABC News' Imtiyaz Delawala and Anna Katharine Ping

Demonstrators gathered outside Manhattan Criminal Court and near Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in the wake of the indictment Thursday evening.

In Manhattan, a giant sign that stated "Trump lies all the time" could be seen unfurled outside Manhattan Criminal Court, where police had erected barricades last week ahead of a possible indictment.

Meanwhile, several supporters gathered near Mar-a-Lago with Trump 2024 flags and signs.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged "Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law" in a statement following the indictment of the former president.

"Mr. Trump is subject to the same laws as every American," Schumer said. "He will be able to avail himself of the legal system and a jury, not politics, to determine his fate according to the facts and the law."

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle took to Twitter to react to the historic indictment on Thursday evening, laying bare the sharp partisan divide when it comes to Donald Trump.

GOP House and Senate members decried the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney as a political prosecution.

Many Democrats, on the other hand, praised the decision as proof "no one is above the law."

Read more here.

-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler

A white powder was discovered in the mailroom at 80 Centre Street, where the Manhattan District Attorney has offices and where a grand jury has been meeting to hear evidence in former President Donald Trump's case, according to a court official. The powder was determined to be non-hazardous, officials said.

The powder came in an envelope addressed to "Alvin," an apparent reference to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according police sources.

Inside the envelope was a letter containing the typewritten message, “Alvin: I am going to kill you," with 13 exclamation points, according to sources.

This envelope followed a series of unfounded threats that targeted municipal offices in New York this week.

"For three days we got four emails," Susan Stetzer, district manager at Manhattan Community Board 3, told ABC News on Friday.

At least one of the messages prompted the court to pause a hearing in the New York Attorney General’s civil lawsuit against Trump.

None of the email messages mentioned Trump by name. One included what Stetzer described as a "horrible homophobic rant."

According to Stetzer, the messages came from @mail.ru domains and some contained Cyrillic characters. The FBI is aware but does not immediately assess that the emails came from Russia, according to a law enforcement official.

"We did not get one today so I’m hoping it stops," Stetzer said.

New York City courthouses will see increased security, the Office of Court Administration said Friday.