by Ben Whedon
The FBI on Wednesday raided the office of Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas in connection with a corruption probe that has ensnared the Democrat power broker and close ally of Gov. Abigail Spanberger, sources told Just the News.
Officials said FBI agents executed search warrants at multiple locations, including a state Senate office in Portsmouth, Va., and a cannabis business with ties to the state senator.
Lucas arrived on scene and told Fox News she did not know what the FBI activity involved.
Lucas has been a powerful figure in Virginia Democrat politics for years, and was an ally of Spanberger who stumped for the future governor during her winning campaign last year.
She also has been a driving force for marijuana legalization in the state.
Virginia Democratic leadership released statements after the FBI raid.
House Speaker Don Scott said he was “deeply concerned about” the FBI’s raid.
“I think people should take this with a grain of salt and allow the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions,” Scott said.
He added, “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.”
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones said there is not “sufficient information about the reported FBI activity in Portsmouth.”
“However, several previous actions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia have undermined public confidence in that office. These include the failed prosecutions against President Trump’s stated political enemies, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James that were both dismissed by a judge well before trial,” Jones said.
“I urge everyone to exercise restraint in judgment until the relevant facts are known in this matter,” he added.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Louise Lucas” by Louise Lucas.
