Trump with little room to extricate himself from mass of

Calls, notes and witness testimony appear to fit with prosecutors’ case that Trump falsified records as part of plot to influence 2016 election

As the jury began deliberations on Wednesday, Donald Trump appeared to have little room to extricate himself from the mass of evidence presented in the weeks-long case.

A recording of Trump directing hush money to be paid in cash. Handwritten notes by Trump’s ex-chief financial officer about how to reimburse Cohen. A parade of witnesses who testified the Trump campaign was desperate to suppress the story of his affair with the adult film star Stormy Daniels.

by violating the Federal Election and Campaign Act, which in 2016 made it a crime for any person to make contributions to a campaign in excess of $2,700 per year, or for a corporation to make a contribution of any amount to any candidate’s campaign in a federal election.

by causing the falsification of other business records, including bank records for the shell companies that Cohen established on false pretenses to pay the hush-money to Daniels.

by violating federal tax and New York state tax law 1801(a)3 and 1802 since Cohen’s reimbursement for the hush money was “grossed up” to compensate him for taxes he would have to pay on the $130,000 when he recorded it as income on his tax returns.