FBI Searches Virginia Senate Leader’s Office

The FBI raided the office of Virginia state Senate Leader L. Louise Lucas in Portsmouth, Virginia, on May 6.

Local media Wavy interviewed Lucas’s daughter, who confirmed the FBI search.

The reason for the raid is unclear.

“Nothing to do with health care. I don’t know, they’re here to search everything,” she told the outlet.

This comes just weeks after Lucas, a Democrat, led an effort to pass a statewide referendum to redraw Virginia’s congressional map, giving Democrats 10 seats and Republicans just one.

The Epoch Times reached out to Lucas for comment.

The FBI confirmed that it is carrying out a search in Portsmouth, but did not say it was of Lucas’s office.

“The FBI is executing a court-authorized federal search warrant in Portsmouth, Virginia,” the agency told The Epoch Times in an email.

“There is no threat to public safety. This is an ongoing investigation and no further information is publicly available at this time.”

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) expressed skepticism of the search.

“While we await the full facts of the investigation, it must be acknowledged that this FBI raid occurs in the broader context of President [Donald] Trump’s repeated abuse of the Department of Justice to target his perceived political opponents,” he said in a statement posted on X.

Scott accused the Justice Department of weaponization against Trump’s opponents.

“This raid on Senator Lucas’ office and businesses also comes as President Trump has pressured the Department of Justice to pursue investigations and prosecutions against New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and multiple Democratic Members of Congress,” he added. “Like all Americans, Senator Lucas has a right to due process and a presumption of innocence.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

Virginia House Speaker Don Scott appeared to express doubts about the raid.

“Let’s start with this: Senator L. Louise Lucas has not been charged with anything!” he said in a statement.

“I am deeply concerned by today’s FBI raid. 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.”

Lucas has been in the Virginia state Senate since 1992 and has been president pro tempore since 2020, the first black person and woman to hold that office.