Nothing prior about this restraint: A man escorting Leon Panetta, Barack Obama's nominee for CIA director, grabbed CongressDaily reporter Chris Strohm at a hearing and pulled him away for daring to ask Panetta a question.

Here's how Politico described the scene with Strohm (left):

"I felt this hand grab my right arm and push me aside," Strohm said.

By his account, Strohm told the man, "Please don't touch me" more than once. Eventually, the man let him go.

Tim Starks, a reporter for Congressional Quarterly, said he witnessed Strohm approach Panetta and ask a question, just before the man began "grabbing him by the arm and moving him away."

"I said to the guy, ‘That's not the way you do it,'" recalled Starks.

The scary thing, besides that whole First Amendment violation bit? No one seems to know who Panetta's escort is or what he does. He's been seen escorting Panetta around D.C. since his name came up as a cabinet pick.