Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said late Tuesday the country is in a "Watergate moment" after two of President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE's former associates were implicated in court within minutes of each other.

"We're in a Watergate moment. We need bipartisanship now more than ever to protect the special counsel and to stop, and I must underscore stop, any consideration of pardons," Blumenthal said on CNN.

"We're likely to see a firestorm of resistance from the president of the United States," Blumenthal added.

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Blumenthal expressed concern that Trump may act out after his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight counts in Manhattan court, and indicated the president directed him to break campaign finance laws.

In a Virginia courthouse, a jury also found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort Paul John ManafortOur Constitution is under attack by Attorney General William Barr Bannon trial date set in alleged border wall scam Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE guilty on eight of 18 counts. The jury could not come to a unanimous verdict on the other 10 counts.

A pardon for Manafort in particular, Blumenthal said, would "so undermine the credibility of his office that it would be a disaster for the nation."

"It would very possibly be an obstruction of justice because he would be misusing that power to protect himself as a target of that investigation," Blumenthal said, adding that Republicans will need to stand up to Trump.

“I believe that at some point, my Republican colleagues have to join in a bipartisan effort to save our democracy,” Senator Blumenthal says about the possibility of President Trump pardoning Paul Manafort https://t.co/DSHS2njgS4 pic.twitter.com/QCAsslGvzQ — The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) August 21, 2018

The White House previously would not rule out the possibility that Cohen could receive a pardon could be offered down the road.

Trump largely avoided talking about either of his former associates at a campaign rally in West Virginia hours after the courtroom drama took place, other than to deny there was any collusion with Russia in the 2016 election and rail against the "witch hunt" in reference to special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's investigation.