The FBI searched the office of a Virginia Democratic lawmaker who helped lead the state’s recent redistricting push on Wednesday (May 6).
State Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas's office in Portsmouth, Virginia, was raided by law enforcement officials as part of an alleged long-running public corruption investigation, according to WAVY-TV.
Federal agents told the outlet that the investigation has been going on since the Biden era.
“The FBI is executing a court-authorized federal search warrant in Portsmouth, VA,” they said. “There is no threat to public safety. This is an ongoing investigation, and no further information is publicly available at this time.”
Agents also searched a nearby business, "The Cannabis Outlet," which is reportedly co-owned by Lucas.
Lucas has supported marijuana legalization in Virginia in the past, having co-sponsored the bill that legalized the possession and use of marijuana in Virginia in 2021.
However, an investigation by Virginia Mercury in 2022 found that products sold at The Cannabis Outlet contained THC levels inconsistent with labeling. State lawmakers officially approved legislation establishing a regulated retail market for adult-use cannabis back in March, per the outlet.
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott said in a statement shared by WAVY-TV that he is “deeply concerned” about the FBI’s actions.
“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,” Scott said. “At this point, we simply do not know what this ultimately means. Right now, there is far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public.”
Lucas played a major role in leading efforts to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts last month. Voters formally approved a proposal that could potentially grant Democrats four new seats in the upcoming midterm elections.
However, the Virginia Supreme Court, on April 28, declined to strike down a lower court ruling that blocked the implementation of the election results, but only for the time being, as it continues to weigh a legal challenge, according to Democracy Docket.
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