Ahead of a prospective indictment of former President Donald Trump, legal experts and elected officeholders are warning that such an unprecedented move may spur a dangerous escalation spiral of retributive political prosecutions that undermine the nation’s justice system.

Trump announced last week that he expected to be arrested imminently. While that arrest has not yet occurred, the prospect of a Trump indictment looms large as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg continues his investigation into an alleged 2016 hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Bragg’s case may rest upon the argument that a Trump payment to Daniels via his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, could be a campaign finance violation that the former president concealed by allegedly falsifying business records. Federal prosecutors have previously rejected the case, and some legal scholars have deemed it a farce.