Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas accused the Trump administration of greenlighting an FBI raid on her businesses because the Democrat supported last month’s congressional redistricting push, despite the senator first coming under investigation during President Joseph R. Biden’s term.
Ms. Lucas, the president pro tempore of Virginia’s Senate, said Wednesday’s raid on her cannabis shop represented the White House’s desire to target people who undermine President Trump’s political goals.
“Today’s actions by federal agents are about far more than one state senator; they are about power and who is allowed to use it on behalf of the people,” Ms. Lucas said in a Wednesday statement. “What we saw fits a clear pattern from this administration: when challenged, they try to intimidate and silence the voices of those who stand up to them.”
She appeared to be referencing Virginia voters’ approval of a new congressional map.
Ms. Lucas cheered on the redistricting effort that is expected to flip the state’s representation from a 6-5 Democratic majority to a 10-1 split in favor of her party.
While Virginians supported the new map at the polls in April, the state’s high court is looking into whether the redistricting proposal passes legal muster.
Meanwhile, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday’s raid was done “during the course of a criminal investigation.”
The raid hit a cannabis dispensary Ms. Lucas co-owns in Portsmouth.
In total, the FBI executed court-approved search warrants at 10 locations connected to a bribery probe.
Ben Tribbett, an adviser to the senator, said only Ms. Lucas’ private businesses were raided, not her legislative office.
Ms. Lucas’ dispensary has drawn scrutiny in the past for seemingly skirting the state’s ban on selling marijuana products.
Some of the edible cannabis products sold from the dispensary contained Delta-9 THC, which would violate commercial restrictions on selling such products, according to a Virginia Mercury report.
The senator’s past behavior, such as asking police not to arrest vandals during the 2020 race riots, has come back into focus.
Then there’s Ms. Lucas’ backing of casino projects in the state, with the parent companies being major contributors to her reelection campaigns.
Still, several high-profile Democrats in Virginia adopted her framing of the raid as politically motivated, including Speaker of the House Don Scott, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell and Attorney General Jay Jones.
“I am deeply concerned by today’s FBI raid,” Mr. Scott said. “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.”
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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