Donald Trump directed his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to commit a crime, Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis said Tuesday.
The statement came hours after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and other federal crimes.
Cohen's plea came at the same time a jury in Virginia convicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on eight counts of fraud and other charges. The president, meanwhile, was headed to West Virginia for a campaign rally on what has become one of the most consequential and perhaps catastrophic days of his presidency.
However, Cohen said "a candidate" for federal office directed him to make illicit payments to two women meant to influence the 2016 elections.
"If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn't they be a crime for Donald Trump?" Davis said in a statement. In addition to being Cohen's lawyer, Davis served in the White House under President Bill Clinton.