High-ranking Virginia state Democrat charged in public corruption case

NORFOLK, Va. — Federal authorities on Thursday charged a prominent Virginia Democrat with racketeering and a money laundering conspiracy as part of an alleged public corruption case involving a cannabis business she co-owns. Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump who is one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, surrendered to authorities Thursday. She was also charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana. A half dozen others, including Lucas’ daughters, were also in custody and charged in the alleged scheme. The investigation into the 82-year-old Lucas predates the Trump administration, NBC News previously reported. But the Justice Department’s move, just 12 days before a midterm election, is unusual, as federal authorities have typically avoided taking overt investigative steps against political figures so close to an election. Lucas is not up for re-election this year but has ties to prominent Democrats who are on the ballot. Lucas said in a statement on social media that she will not be intimidated, or back down. “Today, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the full weight of the federal government have been wielded against an 82-year-old great-grandmother,” Lucas wrote. “I grew up under Jim Crow. I’ve seen what happens when people in power try to silence those who stand up to them. I spent my life fighting back and I’m not stopping now.” Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to in Norfolk, Virginia for a press conference announcing the charges. Blanche said that Lucas, who has been a public servant for years, 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,” he said. “Her first duty should have been looking out for her constituents before herself.” The Justice Department has brought several controversial cases against Trump’s political targets in his second term. Three weeks before the midterms, federal officials searched the home of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Ohmar of Minnesota in an immigration-related investigation and seized her phone. She has said she will not be silenced. The Justice Department has typically not brought political cases within 60 days of an election, but the Blanche on Thursday dismissed those concerns. “It’s not even a rule, it’s a practice,” he said. He noted Lucas wasn’t up for reelection. “The justice manual speaks very clearly about what the Department of Justice can and can’t do, and we cannot bring a charge if our purpose is improper,” Blanche said. But he said the case was correctly brought. In May, federal agents searched Lucas’ office in Portsmouth, along with a business she co-owns called The Cannabis Outlet, which is located on High Street. U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., said his communications with Lucas were monitored and that the Justice Department had become Trump’s “own personal law firm, with his former personal attorney carrying out vendettas on Trump’s political enemies.” A reporter with WAVY, an NBC affiliate, also received a notification letter showing that his communications with Lucas’ number had been swept up in the wire. The indictment alleges that members of the conspiracy “used various business entities” to “disguise the proceeds of illegal marijuana distribution,” and that Lucas “used her political position in the Virginia state senate to insulate” the enterprise “from criminal scrutiny, to further the goal of wealth accumulation.” In one intercepted phone call in February 2026 with an alleged co-conspirator who has not been indicted, Lucas allegedly said that this was their “last chance at generational wealth,” adding “I’ve gotten too old to not be greedy.” Lucas has been a proponent of marijuana legalization in Virginia. The state now allows for possession of marijuana for adults over 21, but recreational marijuana sales remain unlawful. That is set to change; this summer, the governor and state legislators announced an agreement to allow the licensed retail sale of marijuana beginning July 1, 2027. Lucas’ political career began more than four decades ago, when she was elected to the Portsmouth City Council. She was elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1991. The Virginia Senate consists of 40 members who serve four year terms and receive an annual salary of $18,000, a figure set in 1988. Members also receive mileage reimbursement and a per diem during the General Assembly session. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, the former judge and Fox News host Trump named as the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital, attempted and failed to indict six sitting members of Congress over a social media video that Trump disliked. A criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey over an Instagram photo of seashells remains ongoing.