I suspect there is something darker, and it is probably on a video tape somewhere. But more to the point perhaps, he hates to think he has any blots on his copy book. Can't ever be held to have made a mistake.

And...the one thing he cannot afford is to be out of office. As soon as he is out of the Oval Office, he will be facing trial and will likely be given a prison sentence. So I think the flailing can simply be explained by a terror that anything might come along that causes him to be dethroned.