FBI raids business of Democratic Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas

The FBI on Wednesday raided the Portsmouth offices and a cannabis retail business co-owned by state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, as part of an ongoing corruption investigation, according to two federal law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.

The specifics of the probe remain unclear, though the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the investigation, said it involved allegations of bribery related to the cannabis dispensary. One of those officials said the investigation began during the Biden administration.

A spokesperson for the FBI’s Norfolk field office declined to comment, except to say that agents were conducting “court-authorized” law enforcement activity and that there was no threat to public safety.

Lucas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ben Tribbett, her longtime political consultant, said the senator was not arrested and was back home by midday. Tribbett said the offices raided were primarily dedicated to Lucas’s various business interests and that no items related to her political career were seized.

Democrats immediately raised questions about the motivation behind the raid, noting that the Justice Department under President Donald Trump has aggressively targeted political opponents.

“While we await the full facts of the investigation, 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,” Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Virginia), said in a statement that cited Trump’s efforts to prosecute Democratic members of Congress as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI director James B. Comey and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell.

Lucas, 82, (D-Portsmouth) is an outspoken political figure who has touted her cannabis dispensary in provocative social media posts and often trolls Republicans and President Donald Trump. She is known for her hardscrabble background, which includes becoming a teenage mother and working as a shipfitter at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

Since being elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1991, Lucas has risen through the ranks to become the first Black woman to serve as Senate president pro tem and as chairwoman of its powerful committee on finance and appropriations, exerting significant control over state purse strings.

Lucas established the Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth in 2021, shortly after she voted with other Democrats in 2020 to legalize small amounts of recreational weed. The state has yet to adopt a regulatory framework to govern a legal retail market, however, with Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) currently reviewing the latest legislative proposal.

Lucas is also the longtime owner of a residential services provider for developmentally disabled adults.

Lucas is known for taking adamant stands and bending state politics to her will. It was Lucas who first insisted on redrawing Virginia’s congressional districts to give Democrats a 10-1 advantage, which state voters approved but is under review by the Virginia Supreme Court. Lucas is the driving force behind a proposal to cancel a tax exemption for the state’s data centers that costs some $1 billion a year, a move opposed by other Democrats – including Spanberger – and that is preventing lawmakers from reaching a deal on the state budget.

It was also opposition from Lucas that played a key role in 2024 in thwarting efforts by then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to develop a sports arena in Alexandria for the Washington Wizards and Capitals.

In 2020, Lucas faced criminal charges for allegedly inciting a crowd to pull down a Confederate statue in Portsmouth during the racial justice protests over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. A man was seriously injured when protesters pulled down the statue on top of him, but Lucas was not present at that time. Charges against her were eventually dismissed; her lawyer was now-House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth).

In a statement Wednesday, Don Scott said he was deeply concerned by the raid. He is not currently representing Lucas.

“Lets start with this: Senator L. Louise Lucas has not been charged with anything!” 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.”

-Gregory S. Schneider, Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck, The Washington Post