Gerald Wright is a professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University. He studies American politics, especially public opinion, elections, and legislatures. Wright states an indictment of Donald Trump would occur because the prosecutor believes Trump broke the law. This is significant in two fundamental ways. Some people claim Trump is being prosecuted for a misdemeanor or for something that is not a big deal. But this prosecution of Donald Trump is really about the integrity of American democracy. Trump is accused of giving hush money to a porn star so that certain information would not get out, and he strategically did this right before the election. Given the closeness of the election, it is clear Trump believed the information he was trying to hide would have greatly impacted his likelihood of winning. That makes this case significant. Had the American people known what Trump was trying to cover up before the election, he may not have won the 2016 election. The second reason an indictment would be significant is because that would make this the first time in American history there has been a president considered for a criminal indictment with the chance of going to prison. This is extraordinarily divisive because of the polarized politics in the United States. Trump has fundamental support from the MAGA Republican base. They will believe what he says, and Trump’s claims that he is only being prosecuted as part of an agenda undermines people’s faith in basic democratic institutions.