President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen on Tuesday pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts on Tuesday and admitted to a federal court that he violated campaign finance law "at the direction" of then-candidate Trump "for the principal purpose of influencing the election."

"Cohen's guilty plea directly implicates President Trump," Common Cause president Karen Hobert Flynn said in a statement. "Michael Cohen has learned that no American is above the law, even when his client is the President of the United States. Cohen's actions on behalf of Donald Trump are reflective of a presidential administration, and campaign that preceded it, that has repeatedly conducted itself as if it is somehow about the law and ethical responsibilities."

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) indicated the development should prompt the FBI to investigate the matter further: