WASHINGTON (CNN) — It is hard to imagine a historical parallel to the one-two blows that landed flush on the jaw of President Donald Trump Tuesday afternoon, with the nearly simultaneous announcements of Paul Manafort’s convictions and Michael Cohen’s guilty pleas. READ MORE: Michael Cohen willing to cooperate with Russia probe, would refuse Trump’s pardon, says lawyer

The president defended the hush-money payments Wednesday, saying, incorrectly, that the effort outlined in Cohen’s guilty plea wasn’t “even a campaign violation.” Trump told Fox News in an interview set to air Thursday that the payments “didn’t come out of the campaign, and that’s big.”

The accusation from Cohen has inflamed public debate about impeachment.
The lawyer of Michael Cohen, ex-lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump who pleaded guilty to eight felonies a day prior, says his client would refuse to accept a presidential pardon.