WASHINGTON — I saw how the needless Trump impeachment trial press restrictions played out when the Senate proceedings took a 30-minute break at 7:30 p.m. It was chilling to be stopped by an armed police officer when I was en route to an “official” place reporters were granted “permission” to stand.
Here’s an inside look at how the press curbs worked — and observations from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a 2020 presidential hopeful about the forced “digital detox” because of rules forbidding phones and electronic devices in the chamber during the trial.
The Senate press gallery for daily news outlets is on the third floor of the Capitol. The Senate chamber is on the second floor. Journalists had already been told our movements around the Senate side of the Capitol would be restricted when senators were coming in and out of the chamber during the trial.
Congress is a glorious place to cover — compared to the White House where most of the place is off-limits — because accredited journalists can walk up to senators and representatives — or their staffers — or stand by elevators or escalators and see who comes by. Most senators are practiced at giving reporters the brush off if they don’t want to talk.
As I headed to the “official” press pen on the second floor, a police officer blocked me near the staircase. He wasn’t supposed to.
I was wearing my press tags around my neck, including the impeachment special credential issued by the Capitol Police.
As I was contemplating what to do, by good luck, one of the Senate Radio-TV gallery staffers came by, talked to the police officer and escorted me to the press “pen” where the reporters were herded.
There were about a dozen uniformed Capitol Police around. There were no tourists — just reporters, senators and staffers.
The only function the police served was to prevent reporters from walking up to senators to see if they wanted to talk. I even needed an escort to walk me back to the stairs.
The Senate press gallery on the third floor has a door leading to the balcony above the Senate chamber, with a section reserved for the press.
Starting Tuesday, there was a magnetometer presided over by an armed police — in addition to the screening that takes place to get into the Capitol.
It turned out not to be a hassle to get in and out of the chamber. That’s not the point. It’s the principle of putting senseless restrictions on the press.
KLOBUCHAR ON “DIGITAL DETOX”
There are four 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls pinned down in this Senate trial forced off the campaign trail days before the Iowa first vote: Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Michael Bennet of Colorado.
Klobuchar used the break to walk up to the penned in reporters. After a serious exchange about her views on how the trial was doing, I asked her what it was like for the senators to be forced to be muzzled, muted and bolted to their seats.
Said Klobuchar, “What I mostly enjoyed about this — that we were all on a digital detox in that no one could have their phones in the chamber. And that meant people … we couldn’t talk very much. And people actually had to look at each other instead of looking down at their phones.”
Looming behind Klobuchar as she was speaking — I don’t think she was aware he was there — was Eric Ueland, the White House director of legislative affairs.