Last night, The White House went into lockdown after someone tried to scale a barrier fence. Surprisingly, the suspect was not a defecting member of the West Wing, nor Donald Trump himself. Having concluded a meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan, the president might well have decided to stealthily hoist himself over a fence and flee, leaving a rising assault of criticism and calls for impeachment in his considerable wake. But, following a seven-day series of scandals, Trump is still intact in the Oval Office, having overseen a tectonic week, which opened with the firing of F.B.I. director James Comey, climaxed with claims he had shared highly classified information with Russia, and spiraled into clangorous discord Tuesday, when The New York Times reported that Comey possessed records of a conversation in which the president asked him to end the investigation into former national security advisor Mike Flynn.

“I hope you can let this go,” Trump said, according to the purported memo written by Comey, who is said to keep a paper trail detailing any encounters on which he believes he may later be called to testify. The White House flatly denied the allegation, pitting their word directly against Comey’s.

VIDEO: A Brief History of the Trump Administration’s Ties to Russia

The validity of both accounts could soon be put to the test. Already on Monday, even before the existence of Comey’s damning notes emerged, Texas Rep. Al Green held a press conference calling for Trump’s impeachment. By Tuesday, the calls for a full investigation were deafening. “History is watching,” warned Chuck Schumer in an impromptu speech from the Senate floor. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own inquiry into possible Trump-Russia ties, echoed his sentiment, declaring the numerous reports surrounding Trump and Russia to have reached a fever pitch. Senator Richard Blumenthal said of the escalating scandals, “We are witnessing an obstruction of justice case unfold in real time.”

Sustained criticism of Trump is now starting to secrete from the ranks of his own supporters. While Ted Cruz declined to comment on the story, explaining he believed it unproductive to “engage in hypotheticals,” others seemed to accept the very real implications. Speaking at a dinner Tuesday night, John McCain reportedly said that the Trump scandals are reaching “Watergate size and scale.” Marco Rubio, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it was “now inescapable” that Comey must testify before Congress.