The FBI has conducted raids at the office and a business of a top Democratic lawmaker in the US state of Virginia as part of a corruption investigation, a move the senator dismissed as politically motivated.
Louise Lucas, a long-serving member of the Virginia State Senate, is the co-owner of a legal marijuana dispensary business that is a target of the probe.
Asked about the raid, the FBI said it was “executing a court-authorised federal search warrant” in Portsmouth, Virginia, as part of an ongoing investigation but declined to specify the details.
Lucas said the actions “are about far more than one state senator; they are about power and who is allowed to use it on behalf of the people.”
She added: “What we saw fits a clear pattern from this administration: when challenged, they try to intimidate and silence the voices who stand up to them.”
Political tensions rise
