Federal agents on Wednesday morning raided the Portsmouth office of state Sen. Louise Lucas, one of Virginia’s most powerful Democratic lawmakers, with multiple news outlets reporting an extensive law enforcement operation that included FBI agents, SWAT teams and court-authorized searches tied to several locations across the commonwealth.
Fox News, who was first to report the news, said the FBI executed search warrants at several sites, including Lucas’ legislative office in Portsmouth. Staffers inside the building were ordered outside and were not allowed to re-enter as agents searched the premises. Witnesses saw federal agents carrying boxes out of the building.
Adjacent to Lucas’ office is The Cannabis Outlet, a hemp- and cannabis related retail business linked to the longtime state senator. Fox News reported that SWAT teams arrived there with weapons drawn and ordered everyone inside to exit the building with their hands up. At least three people were reportedly placed in handcuffs and taken into custody.
Lucas arrived at the scene shortly after the raid began. When asked by a reporter what the federal action was about, she replied that she had no idea.
The FBI field office in Norfolk did not immediately respond Wednesday morning to questions from The Mercury about the nature of the investigation or whether charges had been filed. Lucas also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The scope of the investigation sent shockwaves through Virginia political circles because of Lucas’ outsized role in state government and Democratic politics.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, whose district includes Portsmouth, was among the first elected officials to publicly respond to the raid, arguing the federal action comes amid what he described as President Donald Trump’s attacks on political opponents.
“While we await the full facts of the investigation, it must be acknowledged that this FBI raid occurs in the broader context of President Trump’s repeated abuse of the Department of Justice to target his perceived political opponents,” Scott said in an emailed statement.
He also noted the raid came roughly two weeks after Lucas helped lead Virginia’s redistricting referendum effort, which Democrats hailed as a rejection of Trump-backed attempts to influence GOP states to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Scott added that “like all Americans, Senator Lucas has a right to due process and a presumption of innocence.”
House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, urged caution as details about the federal investigation remained unclear. He too noted that Lucas had not been charged with a crime.
“Let’s start with this: Senator L. Louise Lucas has not been charged with anything,” Scott said in a statement. He added that, given what he described as the politicization of the Trump administration’s Justice Department and FBI, “people should take this with a grain of salt and allow the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions.”
Scott also questioned how Fox News appeared to be positioned at the scene early in the operation and said Virginians deserve more transparency about the raid.
“At this point we simply do not know what this ultimately means,” he said. “Right now, there is far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public.”
Lucas, 82, has served in the Virginia Senate since 1992 and currently serves as the chamber’s president pro tempore, making her one of the highest ranking members of the General Assembly. A Democrat from Portsmouth, she has long been one of the legislature’s most influential and combative political figures, particularly on budget and fiscal matters.
She also chairs the powerful Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, placing her at the center of this year’s contentious intraparty budget negotiations.
In recent months, Lucas has pushed aggressively to end or scale back Virginia’s lucrative sales and use tax exemptions for data centers, arguing the incentives have become too costly for the state and place growing strain on Virginia’s electric grid and infrastructure.
House Democrats and Gov. Abigail Spanberger have resisted the effort, creating a major impasse that has delayed completion of the state budget.
Lucas has also played a leading role in Virginia’s controversial redistricting referendum approved by voters last month. She was among the key Democratic architects behind the constitutional amendment effort, which would allow Virginia to redraw congressional maps mid-decade under certain political conditions.
The amendment remains in legal limbo while under review by the Supreme Court of Virginia following a court challenge questioning whether lawmakers properly followed constitutional procedures before placing the measure on the ballot.
Beyond her legislative work, Lucas has also faced scrutiny tied to Virginia’s evolving cannabis laws. Virginia legalized simple possession of marijuana in 2021 through legislation Lucas co-sponsored.
But a 2022 Virginia Mercury investigation found that cannabis-related products sold at The Cannabis Outlet contained levels of THC inconsistent with labeling and were being sold in a largely unregulated retail environment that existed before Virginia established a legal recreational cannabis marketplace.
At the time, laboratory testing commissioned by The Mercury found some products sold at the store exceeded advertised THC concentrations. The story put a spotlight on concerns about Virginia’s loosely regulated hemp and cannabis market following legalization of marijuana possession but before creation of a fully regulated retail sales system, which is now before Spanberger.
As of Wednesday afternoon, federal authorities had not publicly indicated whether the raids were connected to Lucas’ cannabis business, her legislative activities or another matter entirely.
