PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) 鈥� The FBI searched the Virginia state Senate leader鈥檚 hometown office and her neighboring cannabis shop Wednesday, bringing into public view what two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press was a corruption investigation.
One of the people said the investigation into Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas was opened during Democratic former President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation.
While the probe apparently has spanned administrations of different political parties, Democrats viewed it against a backdrop of recent, politically charged inquiries during President Donald Trump鈥檚 tenure. Lucas, who has been a senator for 34 years, was a prominent voice in effort, a Democrat-led initiative to counter Republican redrawing pushed by Trump.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 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,鈥� Lucas said in an evening statement. 鈥淲hat 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.鈥�
The FBI said only that it was conducting a court-authorized search in Portsmouth. Such searches require approval from a judge and for investigators to assert that they believe they have identified probable cause of a crime.
Besides the search at Lucas’ office, which houses her disabilities services business and is her political base in Portsmouth, agents in FBI T-shirts also went into the nearby cannabis store, which she opened in 2021. Several entrances to the Cannabis Outlet’s parking lot were blocked by unmarked vehicles with flashing blue lights, as was an entrance to the politician’s office.
By evening, agents were carrying boxes and bags out of the shop’s back door.
Lucas, a , has said the store sells legal hemp and CBD products. It has from local media amid allegations that some products were mislabeled.
Virginia has , but retail sales of recreational marijuana remain illegal in the state.
A woman who identified herself as Lucas鈥� granddaughter, Nicole Bremby, came by after agents left to check on the Cannabis Outlet. She declined to discuss the raids.
鈥淚鈥檝e had better days,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all good. Everyone is home.鈥�
Virginia Democrats point to other recent prosecutions
State House Speaker Don Scott said he was deeply concerned by the FBI search.
鈥淩ight now, there is far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public,鈥� Scott, a Democrat, said in a statement, adding that more facts were needed 鈥渂efore anyone rushes to political conclusions.鈥�
Gov. Abigail Spanberger declined to comment.
Other Virginia Democrats were quick to note that the search comes as the FBI and Justice Department have opened a spate of investigations into perceived adversaries of Trump.
Last week the Justice Department with making a threatening Instagram post against Trump, an accusation that Comey 鈥� who for nearly a decade has drawn the president鈥檚 ire 鈥� has denied. A federal prosecutors’ earlier case accusing Comey of lying to Congress.
A separate mortgage fraud case, also by a court, targeted Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a major against Trump and his business. Both she and Comey, a longtime Republican who split from the party in the past decade, denied the charges and said the prosecutions were vindictive.
Such cases 鈥渉ave undermined public confidence鈥� in federal prosecutors in Virginia, Democratic state Attorney General Jay Jones said in a statement.
The FBI and Justice Department have also provoked concerns among Democrats about ongoing election-related investigations, including the and other information from Fulton County, Georgia.
Lucas has been a vocal leader of Virginia’s redistricting effort, which voters . A sign urging people to 鈥渧ote yes鈥� to 鈥渟top the MAGA power grab鈥� still hung Wednesday on a fence separating her office’s parking lot from that of the cannabis shop.
Lucas played a leading role in Virginia redistricting
Amid a national, state-by-state partisan kicked off by Trump鈥檚 desire to aid his fellow Republicans, Virginia voters OK’d a Democrat-backed constitutional amendment authorizing new U.S. House districts. The plan could help the party win up to four additional seats.
鈥淲e are not going to let anyone tilt the system without a response,鈥� Lucas said after the vote. Trump, meanwhile, denounced the results.
let the referendum proceed but has yet to rule on whether the effort is legal. The court is considering an appeal of a lower court judge鈥檚 ruling that because lawmakers violated procedural requirements.
Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But Trump last year to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterms. California Democrats reciprocated, and redistricting efforts soon cascaded across states.
Lucas, 82, has been a figure in Virginia politics since the 1980s, when she became the first Black woman elected to a city council seat in her native Portsmouth. She now is the first woman and first African American to serve as the Senate鈥檚 president pro tempore.
Earlier in life she was the Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s first female shipfitter, according to her biography in the state library. The job entails making, installing and repairing sometimes enormous metal assemblies for vessels.
In recent years she has been the CEO of a Portsmouth business that runs residences, day programs and transportation for intellectually disabled adults.
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Associated Press journalists Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, Jake Offenhartz in New York, Claudia Lauder in Philadelphia and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.
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