Which of these two big fat liars to believe?

This year's Oscars ceremony was a big improvement over last year's. There's only one problem: It occurred a week too early. By holding the Oscars last weekend, instead of this weekend, the Academy missed the most dramatic, explosive and truly Oscar-worthy performance of the year: Michael Cohen 's appearance before the House Oversight Committee.

Like any good film, Wednesday's hearing posed a real dilemma. Given the choice between two proven, pathological liars, which one do you believe: the one who freely admits lying, or the one who fiercely denies it? Michael Cohen or Donald Trump ?

Adding to the drama, Republicans on the committee didn't have to prove that Michael Cohen was a liar and a cheat. He acknowledged it from the very beginning. In his opening testimony, he admitted a whole smorgasbord of wrongs. He lied to Congress , federal prosecutors and the American people. He filed fraudulent financial forms. And he knowingly broke campaign finance laws. For all of which, having pled guilty, he'd been disbarred and would soon be behind bars.

It was a stunning admission of guilt, rarely if ever seen on Capitol Hill, to which committee Republicans, apparently, weren't even paying attention. They spent the next seven hours getting Michael Cohen to admit, over and over again, to committing all the misdeeds he'd already confessed -- to the point where Cohen expressed out loud what everybody watching was thinking: "I just find it interesting, sir, that between yourself and your colleagues, that not one question so far, since I'm here, has been asked about President Trump."

Why? Congressman Jamie Raskin said it best: "Our colleagues are not upset because you lied to Congress for the president. They're upset because you stopped lying to Congress for the president."

In other words, Republicans did not mind the lies Michael Cohen previously told Congress about the president, they just didn't want to hear the truth he was telling now. Sad! Because, by deciding to pillory Cohen, rather than listen to him, Republicans ignored the very substantive and damaging new information we learned from his testimony on several fronts.

Stormy Daniels . Trump has repeatedly denied knowing anything about hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. That's a lie. According to Cohen, Trump directed him to arrange payments to Daniels in order to spare his campaign an embarrassing news story just before the election, and then reimbursed Cohen in a series of 11 checks -- one of which, for $35,000, was signed by Donald Trump on August 1, 2017. Which means Trump broke the law while president of the United States.

Moscow Tower Project. As a candidate, Donald Trump denied any business dealings with Russia. That's a lie. According to Cohen, all during the campaign, Trump directed him to continue negotiations for a new Trump Tower in Moscow, but to deny doing so.

Trump Tower Meeting. Again, Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the infamous June 2016 meeting with Russian operatives to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. That appears to be a lie. Days before, Cohen relates watching Donald Trump Jr. inform his father that a big meeting he'd been working on was all arranged. To which Trump replied: "OK, good -- let me know."

Roger Stone and WikiLeaks. Trump has denied knowing ahead of time about emails damaging to Hillary Clinton. According to Cohen, that's also a lie. He related overhearing a phone conversation in which Stone informed Trump that he'd spoken to Julian Assange about emails obtained from Russia and soon to be released. If true, that totally contradicts what Trump told Special Counsel Robert Mueller under oath, raising another possible crime Trump committed as president.

Financial Fraud. We know Donald Trump loves to brag about how wealthy he is. That's another lie. Cohen provided financial statements which prove that Trump inflated his net worth when applying for loans, but deflated it when paying his taxes. Both of which are also crimes.

Other Lies. Cohen also testified to lying for Trump about phony medical deferments to avoid service in Vietnam, telling small businesses Trump didn't have enough money to pay them for their services, arranging a fake bidder to buy his portrait at a charity auction and warning his high school and college not to release his grades -- or else.

Michael Cohen admits to lying to Congress before. But, this time, already heading to prison, with nothing to lose, he was clearly telling the truth. Between two proven, pathological liars, which one to believe? Believe Michael Cohen.


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