They asked the FTC about its "process" for calculating the size of the fine, and whether or not it obtained information from Mark Zuckerberg (such as through an interview or documents). The senators also wanted to know if regulators would mention executives by name, and want to know if the FTC will slap restrictions on Facebook's data usage, child access, message service unification and upcoming Libra cryptocurrency.

The Commission is expected to respond by August 6th.

It's not certain how the FTC will take to the letter, especially when the settlement hasn't been confirmed. If it's real, though, the senators' letter makes clear that both the FTC and Facebook are in for a fight. Facebook has been dogged by privacy scandals for well over a year -- it's doubtful that critics will let get by with anything less than a particularly stiff punishment.