'He's no longer a sitting president': Merrick Garland gets grilled about why he's not prosecuting Trump

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday because the Department of Justice has not indicted former President Donald Trump.

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Cohen confronted Garland because former attorney Michael Cohen had been convicted of a felony for paying off an adult film star who had sex with the former president.

"Michael Cohen has a felony on his record and spent time in prison for paying at the direction of President Trump hush money to Stormy Daniels and another woman," Cohen explained. "I believe it's pretty well known that Trump was 'Individual 1' as described in the indictment."

"He couldn't be indicted because of Department of Justice policy, you don't indict a sitting president," the lawmaker continued. "He's no longer a sitting president. Do you believe that not looking into and indicting 'Individual 1' -- equally if not more guilty than Michael Cohen -- is not an abuse of equal protection under the law and an abrogation of the idea that the rule of law is principle."

Garland insisted that he could not directly answer the question.

"A very important element of the rule of law is the norm of the Justice Department that we don't comment on whether we're investigating, what the status of investigations are unless and until there's a public charge," the attorney general replied. "That's important to protect everyone, whether it be a former president, an existing president or a public official, or a private individual."

"I will accept that," Cohen told Garland. "But I hope that you will look at it because I believe he is equally if not more guilty, and it does seem that people get favored treatment if he is not prosecuted."

Watch the video below from Fox News.