Thank you for the link, Wayne07. It is very helpful. Like the OP (SeekAndFind), I’m trying to understand how the jury reached its verdict.
In the Jury Instructions, the judge states that the alleged crime is election interference (page 30); that, by law, a third party’s payment of a candidate’s expenses are deemed contributions to the candidate (page 32); that, in 2015 and 2016, individual contributions over $2,700 to a candidate exceeded the limit (page 31); and that false information on a tax return is unlawful, even if it does not result in underpayment of taxes (page 34). He explains other laws, too.
But, the judge did not give a legal definition for “false entry in the business records of an enterprise.” Did he? Unless I missed it, he didn’t explain what makes an entry “false.”
Alan Dershowitz pointed out the bookkeeping entries were not kept secret, as one would do to hide a crime, but, in fact, were disclosed on corporate forms.
But, the Jury Instructions seem written to lead the jurors to accept without question that the bookkeeping entries were false. The judge seems to want them to focus on the laws he explained and decide whether they believed Trump and Cohen were acting together.