The FBI served more than 10 search warrants Wednesday morning in a criminal investigation that dates back “years” targeting Democratic Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas, according to a top Trump administration official who spoke to NOTUS on the condition of anonymity. A second official described the investigation as “financial” in nature and said it started during the Biden administration.
Lucas, who is the president pro tempore of the state’s Senate and an ally of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, pushed for the state redistricting referendum that voters approved last month. The raid on her office prompted some of her Democratic colleagues to speculate that President Donald Trump is once again trying to leverage law enforcement for political ends.
The FBI has provided little public detail on why it searched Lucas’ Portsmouth district headquarters and a neighboring marjuana dispensary on Wednesday. The FBI’s Norfolk field office said it was operating under a “court-authorized federal search warrant,” and said there was no threat to public safety.
Search warrants filed in the Eastern District of Virginia remained sealed, according to a third official briefed on the investigation. The three government officials who spoke to NOTUS on the condition of anonymity would not discuss exact details of the probe, citing the ongoing investigation.
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The New York Times reported that the raid is connected to a Biden-era investigation into potential corruption and bribery in Lucas’ marijuana businesses. Lucas Hospitality LLC owns the Cannabis Outlet and sells hemp products and CBD, according to a 2022 article from the Virginia Mercury.
Lucas’ office did not respond to requests for comment. But many of her fellow Democrats spoke up in her defense, suggesting there may have been a political motive to the raid.
Democratic state Rep. Bobby Scott noted in a statement that the raid occurred “just two weeks after Senator Lucas helped lead the successful effort by Virginia voters to reject President Trump’s attempt to rig the midterm elections.”
“It must be acknowledged that this FBI raid occurs in the broader context of President Trump’s repeated abuse of the Department of Justice to target his perceived political opponents,” Scott wrote in a post on X.
Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott said “there is far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public.”
“Lets start with this: Senator L. Louise Lucas has not been charged with anything!” he said in a statement. “I am deeply concerned by today’s FBI raid. Given the politicization of this administration — an FBI led by Kash Patel and a Justice Department run by President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney — I think people should take this with a grain of salt and allow the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions.”
In 2020, Lucas and 18 others were criminally charged in connection with a protest that damaged a Confederate monument. A judge later dismissed the case and Lucas sued the former police chief who pursued the charge, alleging defamation.
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