If you were wondering if Virginia Democrat state Sen. Louise Lucas would issue a measured, dignified response to her Thursday arrest on corruption charges, wonder no more.
She didn't.
What she did do, however, is pull out just about every victim card in the deck.
Lucas, 82, responded to the wide-ranging federal case against her by casting herself as a meek, elderly great-grandmother who is being steamrolled by the federal government.
In a statement posted to social media after her arrest was made public – and while a Department of Justice (DOJ) press conference was being held to announce her indictment – Lucas wrote, “Today, the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the full weight of the federal government have been wielded against an 82-year-old great-grandmother.”
She then went straight for the race card: “I grew up under Jim Crow. I’ve seen what happens when people in power try to silence those who stand up to them. I spent my life fighting back, and I’m not stopping now.”
And she wasn’t done there, saying, “I’m not new to this. I’m true to this. I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down.”
You'll notice that she didn't actually address or deny the charges against her in the statement.
https://t.co/hKT5NbUXpa
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) October 22, 2026
As a reminder, the foul-mouthed Louise Lucas is president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate and one of the most powerful Democrats in the commonwealth. She spent a good portion of the 2026 legislative session attempting to gerrymander the congressional map from a 6D-5R split to a 10D-1R one. Or, in the words of Lucas herself, "10-f***ing-1."
The frail great-grandmother schtick is a bit hard to take from the woman who has spent years throwing her political weight around Richmond.
RedState reported earlier Thursday on the pile of federal charges filed against Lucas, which include racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy, money laundering, and honest-services fraud.
In one recorded conversation cited by prosecutors in the charging documents, she allegedly described marijuana licensing as “our last chance at generational wealth” and added, “I’ve got too old to not be greedy.”
The “Lucas Enterprise,” as the DOJ is calling it, was a family-run cannabis operation centered on The Cannabis Outlet in Portsmouth, VA, which prosecutors allege illegally sold marijuana while Lucas and her relatives sought to use her political might to position themselves for lucrative state licenses.
So spare us the bullied-grandma routine. Louise Lucas didn’t get indicted for being an 82-year-old black woman, she was indicted because she allegedly used her political standing to engage in shady business dealings – and the law finally caught up with her.
Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians.
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