Washington (CNN) Sen. Orrin Hatch, the outgoing Utah Republican and most senior GOP senator, issued a statement on Friday expressing regret for telling CNN "I don't care" when asked about President Donald Trump being implicated in crimes by Michael Cohen.

"Earlier this week in an unplanned hallway interview with CNN, I made comments about allegations against the President that were irresponsible and a poor reflection on my lengthy record of dedication to the rule of law," the senator said in the statement.

In the interview with CNN earlier in the week, Hatch strongly dismissed the federal government's allegations that Trump directed Cohen, his former attorney, to commit two crimes by facilitating hush money payments to silence stories about alleged affairs with Trump.

Asked if he had any concerns that Trump was implicated, Hatch told CNN: "The Democrats will do anything to hurt this President." Informed it was alleged by the Southern District of New York, Hatch said: "OK, but I don't care, all I can say is he's doing a good job as President."

Hatch suggested the allegations from Cohen were being blown out of proportion in order to attack Trump. "I don't think he was involved in crimes but even then, you know, you can make anything a crime under the current laws if you want to, you can blow it way out of proportion, you can do a lot of things," Hatch said.

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