Don't forget that he also accused other people of committing crimes in order to cover up his own lies. Or that the lies were not merely to reporters, but to his own wife as well. As mentioned above, if a man will violate the trust his wife places in him like this, whose trust won't he violate?
As for the Democrats throwing him under the bus, he very much deserved that. He got them to go out on a limb for him, and then he cut that limb off. He betrayed them. That deserves to have consequences. If he had been honest from the start (or even if he merely refused to answer questions), then things might be different. But when you get people to back you up and then your lies are exposed, then those people are made to look like fools for lending support to that lie.
