IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Democratic attorney general has installed the Republican governor’s lawyer into a high-level job in which he is defending his former boss’ policy agenda and management decisions in court. Weeks after joining Attorney General Tom Miller’s staff, Sam Langholz has participated in cases defending Gov. Kim Reynolds’ coronavirus restrictions, her law requiring a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, her denial of overtime pay to some nurses, and her administration’s ouster of a longtime public health spokeswoman.

Miller and Reynolds announced Langholz’s appointment as an assistant attorney general for civil and appellate litigation in November.