Garland defends DOJ move to represent Trump in defamation case

Writer E Jean Carroll had accused Trump of sexual assault and sued him for defamation when he disparaged her claim.

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland defended a decision by the Justice Department to continue representing Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who accused the former US president of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. “The job of the Justice Department in making decisions of law is not to back any administration previous or present,” Garland said in an appearance before a US Senate panel on Wednesday. “The essence of the rule of law … is that like cases be treated like, that there not be one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans that there not be one rule for friends and another for foes,” Garland said.