U.S. Rep Maggie Goodlander says her appearance in a video with other congressional Democrats urging members of the military to resist illegal orders is under review by the Department of Justice.
Goodlander says her office was first contacted about the video in November and that she's sought information about what federal investigators are looking at.
The video, posted on social media in November, featured Goodlander and five other congressional Democrats, all with military or intelligence backgrounds, pointing to the Uniform Code of Military Justice while addressing U.S. servicemembers.
"No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution," the lawmakers said in the video.
The video was posted to social media in mid-November, at a time of flaring tension between Democrats and the Trump administration over the deployment of the National Guard to patrol American cities and military strikes against boats believed to be carrying drugs in the Pacific and Caribbean.
In social media posts at the time, President Donald Trump described the video as treasonous. He later suggested the six Democratic lawmakers receive the death penalty for their participation in the video.
In a statement Wednesday evening, Goodlander — a former U.S. Naval Reserve intelligence officer — said “it is sad and telling that simply stating a bedrock principle of American law caused the president of the United States to threaten violence against me.”
She also called it “dangerous” that the Justice Department would “target me for doing my job.”
Goodlander's acknowledgement that she remains under scrutiny over the video came as Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin and two other Democrats who appeared in the video said that they too are facing questions from federal prosecutors.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia declined to "confirm or deny the existence of an investigation" of the Democrats to NPR on Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that the Pentagon would censure one of the lawmakers who appeared alongside Goodlander in the video: Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot.
That move could allow the Pentagon to demote Kelly or reduce his retirement pay. Kelly sued Hegseth and the Pentagon on Monday, alleging the government is retaliating against him for speech protected by the First Amendment.
Material from NPR was included in this report.
