So this is an admission he is being pressured to cooperate.
That is exactly what this sounds like. Open public blackmail. They got him on nothing, so they invent obstruction and tampering claims. This whole thing reeks.
Cooperate with Trumped-up charges, if you will.
Yet, it is probably worth recognizing that this guy seems to have been a longtime part of the swamp. Apparently he was getting away with it until the 2016 campaign, but it doesn’t sound like he was a boy scout along the way.
Still, I’d expect Trump to pardon him before leaving office.