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On Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel announced racketeering, money laundering, and drug trafficking charges against state Sen. Louise Lucas, the 82-year-old legislator who just so happened to lead Virginia Democrats’ redistricting effort earlier this year. But if you’re wondering if this is just retribution against the Democrats weeks before the midterm elections, don’t worry: Blanche is here to assure you that it’s not.
“We don’t do political paybacks,” Blanche told the press with a straight face in Norfolk, Virginia. The statement stands in stark contrast to the track record of Trump’s DOJ, an agency that’s pivoted to political payback and lawfare on the president’s behalf. From the unfounded claims of mortgage fraud leveled at New York Attorney General Leticia James to the recent raid of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home—part of an apparent effort to revoke her US citizenship—the administration is targeting a growing list of perceived enemies of the president. Like Lucas, many of those targets are Black women.
According to the indictment, Lucas stands accused of running a “criminal marijuana enterprise,” dubbed “The Lucas Enterprise,” that was worth an “estimated $4.5 million.” In 2021, on the same day recreational use—but not the retail sale—of marijuana was legalized in Virginia, Lucas’ daughter, who has also been charged, opened a dispensary called The Cannabis Outlet. Lucas, who authored the original bill legalizing cannabis use, owns a stake in the company.
Not much is known about the DOJ’s case and supposed evidence against Lucas. But it’s impossible to divorce the claims from Trump’s relentless efforts to weaponize the Justice Department against his opponents or from the timing of the indictment, which, like the investigation of Omar, breaks longstanding DOJ policy around federal law enforcement actions that could have an impact on elections. As Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger wrote in her statement on Lucas’ arrest:
“The timing of this indictment undermines the U.S. Department of Justice’s previously longstanding policy of not taking legal actions—to include indictments or significant investigative steps—close to an election and sadly, this timing further erodes the trust the American people deserve to have in the Department of Justice.”
State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell shared similar sentiments, stating, “The Department of Justice is led by the President’s former personal attorney, and this prosecution is being brought by the most corrupt administration in American history.” Lucas, never one to mince words, released a statement on Thursday making it clear that the charges will do nothing to silence her politically.