1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

Today, the FBI raided the office and cannabis business of Virginia State Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas — the chief Democratic architect of Virginia’s newly approved congressional redistricting referendum — while the Virginia Supreme Court is actively deliberating the legality of those very maps. We are not asking you to prejudge the investigation. We are asking you to look at the timing. Voters approved Virginia’s new congressional maps just two weeks ago, in a direct rebuke of President Trump’s effort to use mid-decade redistricting to lock in Republican congressional majorities ahead of the 2026 midterms. Senator Lucas was its most visible champion. The maps remain in legal limbo while the Virginia Supreme Court reviews a constitutional challenge — deliberations that are happening right now, today. And today is when the FBI chose to execute this warrant. There is more. Fox News was on the scene before local media had any knowledge of the raid. Virginia House Speaker Don Scott has asked publicly: did Fox News know about the raid in advance? If so, who approved that — and why? This is the same FBI now run by Kash Patel. This is the same Justice Department that has been used to target former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and other perceived political opponents of this administration. Senator Lucas has not been charged with any crime. She is entitled to due process and a presumption of innocence. But the people of Virginia are entitled to know that their elected representatives will not be silenced by the strategic deployment of federal law enforcement against lawmakers who stand in the way of this administration’s political goals. We are asking you to speak out clearly and publicly. The chilling effect of today’s raid on Virginia’s redistricting fight — and on every Democratic lawmaker watching — cannot go unanswered.