Subject: Re: Trumpers walk out on Trump
OK, since you obviously listen to the correct sources, please state exactly what element of Federal election law that Trump violated and the specific act on Trumps part that proves he did it.

The below is a link to the Court's order denying Trump's motion to dismiss on this point - the discussion starting on page 11 lays out the criminal statutes alleged to have been violated and the evidentiary proffer that was made to support it.

Despite the fulminating by legal commentators, the dispute over whether there exists a sufficient "object crime" is not a new issue in this case. Early on in the prosecution, Trump's legal team tried to get the charges thrown out on the grounds that there was no "object crime." The prosecution identified four object crimes that they alleged Trump was trying to commit or conceal with the false business records. The judge ruled that three of them were correct legal arguments and supported by a proffer of evidence.

Specific to your question, the "object crime" consisted of Cohen and Pecker (at the direction of Trump) making a campaign contribution to Trump's 2016 campaign in excess of the statutory limits, in violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Cohen ultimately pleaded guilty to that offense; Pecker testified that he made payments to McDougal on behalf of Trump. This constituted both an object crime that was sought to be concealed by the falsified business records on its own and constituted an "unlawful means" of influencing an election under NY PL 17-152. The specific act on Trump's part was his making the payment to McDougal and Daniels through Cohen and Pecker, and directing them in their own actions.

https://s3.documentcloud.org/d...

To obtain a conviction, the prosecution will have to prove up that charge - that the payments to MacDougal and Daniels were in fact campaign contributions, that Trump was involved with/directed those payments, and that the records were falsified with intent to conceal those crimes. Both Cohen and Pecker have testified in open court as to those matters. If the jury disbelieves them both, then obviously the elements of the crime will not have been proven and Trump will be acquitted. If the jury believes their testimony proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump did in fact make these payments as an unlawful contribution to the campaign and that he falsified the business records to conceal that, he can be convicted.

There's no real mystery here. It was laid out in a lot of detail in the Court's order on the pre-trial motions.