Michele Bachmann's security team has already had notable altercations (shoving, mostly, it seems) with CNN's Don Lemon and ABC News reporter Brian Ross. Today, however, Politico quantified the trend, portraying the Tea Party darling's bouncers as prone to unnecessary roughness: In the past two months, "Bachmann's campaign staff has become embroiled in at least five unusually hostile encounters with the traveling media." The most aggressive incident in the report came from a Norwegian reporter, Are Tagvold Flaten, who was trying to photograph Bachmann:

On the CNN set, the silver-haired bodyguard asked Flaten, "Are you a blogger?" he said. Flaten responded that he wasn’t. Then the guard, he said, walked away, came back and gestured toward another man: "This guy will break your arm if you take one step closer," Flaten recalled the silver-haired guard saying.

Bachmann's team, according to Politico, denied Flaten's interpretation. But spokesman Alice Stewart did not do much to dispel the sense of intimidation surrounding Bachmann's security staff, which includes a former Secret Service agent. “He’s guarded presidents and vice presidents and knows exactly what needs to be done,” Stewart told Politico. “When he gives a warning to whoever it may be, the person needs to heed the warning.”

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Erik Hayden