High-Ranking Virginia Democrat Charged in Public Corruption Case

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 other people, 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.

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Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Norfolk for a news conference announcing the charges.

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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.”

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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 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.”

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