The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump has become a bellwether for the state of press freedom in the United States. In establishing the official rules for the trial, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms in cooperation with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have put unprecedented restrictions on the press during the hearings.
Members of the press have been prohibited from walking through the halls to ask senators questions, and from bringing electronic devices into the Senate Chamber. Journalists are required to pass through a secondary security screening and forced into pens and roped-off lines so they cannot access senators as they normally would. Journalists have complained that their interviews with willing Senators have been broken up by Capitol Hill Security.
This is an unacceptable breach of the First Amendment. As public servants, American lawmakers should be both accessible and answerable to the American public. The press plays a critical role in ensuring the public has access to reliable information about these historic proceedings. These restrictions allow powerful leaders like Mitch McConnnell and Donald Trump to create distance between the press and lawmakers and exercise undue control over the impeachment narrative.
