Feds charge Virginia Democrat Louise Lucas with racketeering and marijuana conspiracy

A prominent Virginia Democrat, Louise Lucas, has been charged with racketeering and a money laundering conspiracy as part of a public corruption case involving a cannabis business she co-owns. She surrendered to authorities on Thursday and is now in custody with six others, including her relatives. She was also charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Lucas, 82, said in a social media statement that she will not be intimidated or back down. She grew up under Jim Crow and has seen what happens when people in power try to silence those who stand up to them. She spent her life fighting back and she is not stopping now.

Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Norfolk for a press conference announcing the charges. Blanche said Lucas put her own financial interests above the people she was elected to serve. The Department of Justice intends to prove that Senator Lucas violated the trust of the people of Portsmouth and Chesapeake, Virginia, and of her state senate colleagues.

Blanche said the case is not politically motivated and invited Americans to read the indictment. The investigation into Lucas predates the Trump administration, but the timing of the charges is unusual, as federal authorities have typically avoided taking overt investigative steps against political figures so close to an election.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said the timing of the indictment undermines the U.S. Department of Justice’s previously longstanding policy of not taking legal actions close to an election. She said the American people deserve to have trust in the Department of Justice.

Lucas is arguably the most powerful statewide politician in Virginia, holding the purse as the chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. She told NBC Washington in an interview in June that it was awfully coincidental that the search came on the heels of her push to redistrict Virginia in favor of Democrats.

In May, Lucas said in a statement that today’s 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. She said what 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.