Capitol Police gave senators phrase cards with suggestions to tell reporters covering impeachment to 'get out of my way'

The cards include phrases such as "please get out of my way," "you are preventing me from doing my job," and "please do not touch me."
The phrasebooks are just one example of the increased security and restricted press access imposed by the Senate during the much-anticipated impeachment trial.
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Capitol Police gave US senators phrase cards to tell reporters covering President Donald Trump's impeachment trial to "get out of my way," according to the Associated Press .

The cards, which also encourage senators to tell reporters that they are "preventing me from doing my job" and "please do not touch me," is just one example of the heightened security and limited press access in the Capitol that the Senate imposed ahead of the president's impeachment trial.

Reporters are also restricted a press pen , which is the only place they are allowed to approach and interview senators through the halls.

McClatchy correspondent Emma Dumain expressed her grievances on Twitter, calling the restrictions "ludicrous" when her interview with Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana was interrupted by Capitol police, who told her to step behind the press ropes if she wanted to continue the interview.

"Senators who don't care whether reporters want to walk and talk with them in hallways should tell [Sergeant at Arms of the Senate] to reverse many of these restrictions," she added. "They might actually listen."

The same happened to reporters even if the questions were not pertinent to the impeachment itself. Miami Herald reporter Alex Daugherty tweeted that he was "blocked" by Capitol Police to continue his interview with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida on the topic of aid to Puerto Rico.

"He wanted to talk, but the insane rules in place on the press for the impeachment trial prevented me from asking another question," Daugherty wrote in the tweet.

"To be clear, this isn't a criticism of the police, who are doing their jobs," he continued in a follow-up tweet , "it's a criticism against the Senate rule makers who've decided that impeachment merits cutting off access to elected officials."

The rules for covering the impechment trial, which were revealed earlier this week, drew ire from reporters.

"Excessive restrictions like these only hurt the public who are rightfully seeking up-to-date information on an incredibly historic event such as the third impeachment trial of a US president in history," Washington Post White House reporter Seung Min Kim tweeted on Tuesday . "I am floored."

Carl Hulse, the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, called them , "Pretty much an outrage."

"That's the bread and butter of what we do here," Los Angeles Times reporter and head of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, Sarah Wire told the AP. "That's where you get that extra nugget of information."

The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate Michael Stenger, who was appointed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, set the strict constraints on the press.