FBI raids Virginia state senator Louise Lucas's office and cannabis store in corruption probe

PORTSMOUTH, Va. The FBI raided the offices and a cannabis retail business co-owned by state Sen. L. Louise Lucas on Wednesday, two federal law enforcement officials told the Washington Post, in what officials described as part of an ongoing corruption investigation.

Lucas, 82, is the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and one of the most powerful Democrats in the state. The search warrant covered her Portsmouth office, the nearby Cannabis Outlet store she opened in 2021, and what FOX News reported were at least 10 locations associated with the senator.

An FBI spokesperson confirmed the warrant was signed by a federal judge but declined to identify the target or scope of the probe. "The FBI is executing a court-authorized federal search warrant in Portsmouth, VA. There is no threat to public safety," the bureau said in a statement. "This is an ongoing investigation and no further information is publicly available at this time."

Two weeks after redistricting

The raid comes two weeks after Lucas led a successful redistricting referendum that voters approved last month, paving the way for a Democratic-friendly congressional map for the November midterms. Virginia Democrats moved quickly to characterise the timing as politically motivated.

U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, said in a written statement that the search occurred "in the broader context of President Trump's repeated abuse of the Department of Justice to target his perceived political opponents." Scott pointed to the now-dismissed bank-fraud case against New York Attorney General Letitia James, the April indictment of former FBI director James Comey, and a closed criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Virginia Speaker of the House Don Scott, a Portsmouth delegate, said he was "deeply concerned" about the search. "At this point we simply do not know what this ultimately means," his statement read. "Right now, there is far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public."

What the agents took

A person close to the senator told CNN that federal agents were already in the parking lot when Lucas arrived at her office on Wednesday morning, and that they seized electronics and other items. Several entrances to the cannabis dispensary were blocked by unmarked vehicles with flashing blue lights, the Associated Press reported. A spokesperson for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger acknowledged the operation but declined further comment.

Lucas has been a vocal advocate of legalising marijuana in Virginia and has proposed using tax revenue from sales to offset federal spending cuts. The Cannabis Outlet sells legal hemp and CBD products, she has said publicly, although it has drawn scrutiny from local media over allegations that some products were mislabelled. The senator was not detained or charged on Wednesday.

Lucas became the first Black woman elected to a city council seat in Portsmouth in the 1980s and is the first woman and first African American to serve as the Senate's president pro tempore. She nearly single-handedly killed a 2024 bid to relocate the Washington Capitals and Wizards to a new arena in Virginia. Federal prosecutors did not file public charges related to Wednesday's search by close of business.