The four House members and two senators all previously served in the military or at intelligence agencies. The FBI contacted them for interviews late last year, after their 90-second video was released, and now say they have been contacted by the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia, a significant escalation in the investigation.
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Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA analyst, first revealed the outreach from prosecutors in an interview with The New York Times. On Wednesday, she posted a video on her X account saying the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the chief federal prosecutor in the nation's capital, reached out last week asking to interview her.
"This is the president's playbook. Truth doesn't matter. Facts don't matter. And anyone who disagrees with him becomes an enemy," Slotkin said. "And he then weaponizes the federal government against them. It's legal intimidation and physical intimidation meant to get you to shut up."
Pirro's office said it would neither confirm nor deny whether an investigation is taking place.
Pennsylvania Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, who represents Chester and parts of Berks County, is also under scrutiny.
The Air Force veteran says she was recently approached by the Department of Justice, asking for information.
"Largely at this point, they are asking for conversations, and I'm not sure to what end. Again, no laws were broken in encouraging people to follow the law," said Houlahan.
The Department of Defense is also taking action against prominent Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and retired Navy Captain.
In November, the Pentagon opened an investigation into him, citing a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other punishment. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has censured Kelly for participating. Hegseth is attempting to retroactively demote Kelly from his retired rank of captain.
"It should be worrisome to everyone that the administration appears to be weaponizing the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense as well, against people who dare to speak out against the president, or who dare to say the truth," said Houlahan.
Kelly is suing Hegseth to block those proceedings, calling them an unconstitutional act of retribution.
"The First Amendment forbids the government and its officials from punishing disfavored expression or retaliating against protected speech," his lawsuit says.
Houlahan says the investigation is an intimidation tactic and is concerned this could put a target on her back.
"I do think it ends up, unfortunately, putting people like me in danger and my family and my team," she said.
Democrats stand their ground
Democratic Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire also confirmed that they have been contacted by Pirro's office.
The House members remained defiant, with Crow saying the Trump administration "picked the wrong people."
"It is downright dangerous that the Justice Department is targeting me for doing my job," Goodlander said in a statement. "These threats will not deter, distract, intimidate, or silence me."
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The lawmakers attracted President Donald Trump's wrath with a video that he and his aides have labeled as "seditious" - an offense Trump said on his social media account was "punishable by death."
It is not clear what laws could have been violated in the video message. In it, the lawmakers tell troops to follow established military protocols by not following commands that violate the law. They said the administration "is pitting our uniformed military against American citizens" and they called for service members to "stand up for our laws."
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday that "these members of Congress did not violate the law" and that Democrats "stand firmly behind them."