HARRISBURG, Pa. (WENY) - Yesterday’s indictment of former President Donald Trump is the third criminal case against the 2024 GOP frontrunner. The four-count indictment on felony charges could have far reaching legal and political implications. 

“This situation is serious, and we all saw it play out. We know what happened on January 6th. We all recognize that it's a situation that was terrible for the country and that we don't want to repeat it. The people responsible should be held to the demands of justice,” said Michael Dimino, Professor of Law at Widener Law Commonwealth. 

Tuesday’s indictment alleges Trump knew his statements were false and knew President Joe Biden had won the election legitimately. The indictment alleges Trump’s maneuvers between the 2020 election and January 6 were to undermine the election results that he knew to be accurate. 

“The key allegation in the indictment is that President Trump knew that his statements about fraud in the 2020 election were false. That's just an allegation at this point. It's an indictment. It'll have to be proven at trial,” said Dimino. “Because certainly, it's not a crime to make incorrect allegations about a political matter or an election or anything like that. It's not even 100 percent clear that it's a crime to lie intentionally about any of those kinds of matters. But certainly, the government has a decent argument,” Dimino added. 

Dimino says, from a legal standpoint, the case is navigating through uncharted territory. 

“It's a little bit surprising that this case would attempt to make new law in that respect, that going after the former President of the United States, essentially for making political statements, is quite a bit of a step forward from where the law is now,” said Dimino. “Even if it's justified, it is rather surprising that the Department of Justice would use this case as their attempt to make that legal argument,” he added. 

Dimino believes the Department of Justice (DOJ) is in a difficult position. On one hand, he says, the DOJ pursues the case and faces scrutiny from Republicans who accuse the department of weaponizing the justice system to target a political opponent. On the other hand, failing to pursue the case could have serious consequences. 

“It's also running the risk of setting a dangerous precedent that we are not investigating crimes against people who are politically powerful,” said Dimino. “To immunize him (Trump) because he is a politically influential person would be a terrible precedent,” he added. 

From a prosecutorial standpoint, Dimino says it will be challenging to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Trump knew his statements about election fraud were false. 

“You're trying to prove what he knew or what he thought at the time he acted, and that's always going to be difficult,” said Dimino. 

Dimino says Tuesday’s felony charges, which include conspiring to defraud the United States, stand out compared to previous ones. However, the political implications of the previous indictments will be just as, if not more significant, because those cases will likely head to trial before the election. 

“What may end up being the most significant, in a political sense, is the trial that happens before the election. Right now, the New York case and the classified documents case are scheduled to go to trial in the spring or perhaps early summer next year,” said Dimino, adding that the new case may not even go to trial.

“Certainly, if Trump wins the election, despite there being an indictment, then the prosecution would look very different, if there is any prosecution at all. And if he loses, well then nobody cares anymore,” said Dimino.