Updated at 11 p.m. with tweet from Beto O'Rourke.

WASHINGTON -- With legal clouds darkening over the White House, Democratic lawmakers from Texas stepped up demands Tuesday for impeachment and at the least, public hearings into the conduct of President Donald Trump and his associates.

Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, tweeted that "Time is up. We must impeach crooked Donnie."

"Today we witnessed the president of the United States go from the frying pan into the fire," Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said on CNN, where he noted the "split screen" coverage of Trump's campaign chairman and longtime lawyer convicted of serious crimes almost simultaneously.

Michael Cohen, the president's lawyer, admitted that he paid hush money to an adult film star to keep quiet about a sexual liaison with Trump. And he told a federal court as part of his plea deal that he did so with Trump's knowledge and at his direction.

Evidence is now strong that Trump committed crimes, Castro said.

"It certainly seems that way, based on what Michael Cohen has said, and it's important to note, he did it to win the presidential election," Castro said.

After today's guilty verdict in the @PaulManafort trial and @MichaelCohen212's plea deal, time is up. We must impeach crooked Donnie. @realDonaldTrump @POTUS — US Rep. Filemon Vela (@RepFilemonVela) August 21, 2018

Through a campaign aide, Sen. Ted Cruz did not respond to a request for comment.

Cruz has warned Texas voters that Democrats would seek to impeach and remove Trump if they can take control of the House and Senate in the November elections. And he has painted his challenger, El Paso Rep. Beto O'Rourke, as a "radical" for saying that he is open to impeachment.

Late Tuesday, O'Rourke tweeted that "no matter how close someone might be to the highest positions of power, they are not immune from accountability and justice in this country."

No matter how close someone might be to the highest positions of power, they are not immune from accountability and justice in this country. — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 22, 2018

John Cornyn, the Senate Republican whip, asserted that convictions shouldn't fuel suspicions that triggered the special counsel inquiry.

"People who do bad things and break the law need to be held accountable. But this doesn't add anything to the allegations of misconduct relative to the Russia investigation," he told Politico, according to a Cornyn spokesman.

"Today we witnessed the President of the United States go from the frying pan into the fire," Democratic Rep. @JoaquinCastrotx says as he suggest House and Senate Judiciary Committees should hold hearings on Michael Cohen and President Trump https://t.co/5vt4Dk1qKK pic.twitter.com/BNgru3TMD0 — The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) August 21, 2018

But many Republicans kept mum about the convictions and more potential legal peril for the president.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, chastised Republicans for their "ongoing silence and wishy-washy wavering," asserting that their refusal to confront Trump's criminality is undermining the American democratic system.

(1/2) Cohen has shown the criminality of a President who is a serial liar. While the actions of this Trump gang are so corrosive, it is the ongoing silence and wishy-washy wavering of Congressional Republicans that enables such serious damage to our democracy. — Lloyd Doggett (@RepLloydDoggett) August 21, 2018

Trump, arriving in West Virginia ahead of a campaign rally aimed at helping a GOP nominee seeking to unseat a Democratic senator, told reporters that it "doesn't involve me" and reiterated that the special counsel probe is a "witch hunt."

"Paul Manafort's a good man," Trump said. "He was with Ronald Reagan, he was with a lot of different people over the years and I feel very sad about that. Doesn't involve me but I still feel, you know, it's a very sad thing that happened. This has nothing to do with Russian collusion. This started as Russian collusion, this has absolutely nothing to do -- this is a witch hunt that ends in disgrace. But this has nothing to do what they started out, looking for Russians involved in our campaign. There were none."

Impeachment has become a political issue in the Texas Senate contest.

O'Rourke has said since last fall that if articles of impeachment were brought before the House, he would vote to impeach Trump for obstruction of justice and other infractions. Impeachment would trigger a trial in the Senate where, O'Rourke said, facts could be brought to light to show whether removal from office was justified.

Castro said he doubts that Republicans in Congress will ask the hard questions the American public needs answered about the president's actions.

"Do I believe that they'll necessarily do the right thing?... No I don't," he said.

"This is a horrible day for the president but really a horrible day for the United States of America," Castro said.

Castro's brother, former San Antonio mayor and Obama housing secretary Julián Castro, echoed the sentiment. He was in Iowa this weekend testing the waters for a 2020 presidential bid.

He called Trump an unindicted co-conspirator.

"Now you know why @realdonaldtrump is so scared to go under oath with Mueller. #unindictedcoconspirator," he tweeted.

Steven David, the Democrat hoping to unseat House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, mocked Cohen on Tuesday afternoon by dusting off a tweet Cohen sent in December 2015, taunting Hillary Clinton by saying that "when you go to prison for defrauding America and perjury, your room and board will be free!"

Few Texas Republicans were rallying behind Trump as the head turning news of the dual convictions began to sink in.

Dan Wood, the Democrat hoping to capture the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, lauded the convictions. "Mueller begins to drain the swamp," he tweeted, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller.