Corruption is Everywhere > Would you believe the Virginia Senate

 

Powerful Democratic Virginia state Sen. Lucas is accused of leading a marijuana criminal conspiracy

SARAH RANKIN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

Updated Thu, October 22, 2026 at 6:57 a.m. PDT

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state's most powerful Democrats, was charged Thursday with leading what authorities alleged was a wide-ranging criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds.

Lucas, who has been in elected office for decades, used her political power to insulate the operation from scrutiny, according to an indictment charging her and six other defendants, including several of her relatives. She "put her own financial interests before the people she was elected to serve," said U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who spoke at a news conference with FBI Director Kash Patel.

Lucas surrendered, the Justice Department said. She made a brief appearance in federal court in Norfolk on Thursday afternoon, where she was released on her own recognizance, according to court records. She left the court without addressing journalists who shouted questions her way and went straight into a waiting vehicle.

The charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering, came after the FBI searched Lucas' hometown office and a cannabis shop in which she has a stake in May. At the time of the search, Lucas — who has been a vocal critic of Republican President Donald Trump's administration — characterized it as an attempt to intimidate her.

Lucas says she won't be bullied by the federal government

A statement attributed to Lucas posted on her social media account did not directly address the substance of the charges but said Thursday's actions amounted to the federal government wielding its "full weight" against a great-grandmother.

"I will not be intimidated. I will not be bullied. And I will not back down," Lucas said in the statement. Her attorney at the hearing declined comment outside.

The brash 82-year-old lawmaker has spent decades ascending the ranks of Virginia politics and has served since 1992 in the state Senate, where she's the president pro tempore, overseeing the chamber in the lieutenant governor's absence. More significantly, she leads the powerful Senate finance committee, through which all legislation with any budget impact must flow. She's used the position to kill legislation she opposes.

Justice Department denies politics played a role

The indictment comes as Trump's Justice Department has faced intense scrutiny over investigations and prosecutions against foes of the president that critics have called politically motivated.

Blanche rejected any suggestion politics played a role in Lucas' case, noting the investigation began well before the second Trump administration started in January 2025.

"We don't do political paybacks," Blanche told reporters.

A person familiar with the May search told The Associated Press at the time that the probe was opened during Democratic President Joe Biden's administration. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing criminal investigation.

FBI alleges a 'criminal marijuana enterprise'

Patel said in a statement that "Lucas and a close-knit group of family members and associates orchestrated a multi-year scheme to enrich their own criminal marijuana enterprise, 'the Lucas Enterprise' — using Lucas' position as Chairwoman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee to insulate the enterprise from criminal scrutiny and influencing legislation to financially benefit themselves."

The indictment describes Lucas as the "leader of the enterprise" who "approved and directed criminal activities," including arranging for the acquisition and distribution of marijuana and supervising the laundering of the proceeds.

The indictment alleges Lucas worked this year with another of the defendants to use her political position to obtain a recreational marijuana license for him, with the understanding that the proceeds from sales under the license would be shared with her to support the "enterprise."

Since 2021, marijuana has been legal to possess in Virginia, and many shops across the state have sold cannabis-derived products. But full recreational sales are not yet underway; legislation enacted earlier this year will allow them beginning in July 2027.

Law enforcement made multiple controlled purchases of marijuana from Lucas' shop, which purported to sell hemp products, in 2024 and 2025, the indictment said.

In addition to drug and money laundering charges, Lucas faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and maintaining a drug-involved premises. An arraignment is scheduled for next month.

Among the other defendants who face a mix of those and other charges are two daughters, Lisa Lucas Burke and Theresa Lucas-Lamb, and a grandson, Ryan Eichelberger. All three also made brief court appearances and were released on their recognizance, according to court records.

Attorneys for Lucas-Lamb and Eichelberger declined comment; Andrew Sacks, who was listed in court records as an attorney for Burke, didn't respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for two other defendants who are not family members declined comment; a third who was also released Thursday had no attorney listed in court records.

Virginia officials react

A forceful advocate of legalizing marijuana, Lucas partnered in opening the shop, The Cannabis Outlet, in 2021. She has publicly spoken about her ownership stake as recently as June, though her most recent financial disclosure forms do not list the business by name.

At the time of the search — when marijuana was recovered at The Cannabis Outlet, according to the indictment — many Democrats spoke up to defend Lucas.

On Thursday, Scott Surovell, the Democratic leader of the state Senate, said in a statement that the indictment contained "serious allegations" but emphasized that "Senator Lucas has the right to defend herself, and she has my full support as she does so." Attorney General Jay Jones, a Democrat who is close with Lucas, said the allegations against her must be tested in a "full and fair" legal process.

House Speaker Don Scott, Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger, all Democrats, echoed those sentiments, with Spanberger adding that the timing of the indictment so close to the midterm election would "further erode" Americans' trust in the Justice Department. Lucas herself is not on the ballot this year.

Ryan McDougle, the Senate Republican leader, said he would not comment while the court proceedings play out.

The senator draws comparisons to Trump

Lucas, who represents a district that includes her hometown of coastal Portsmouth, operates with a sometimes-profane, unapologetic style that's drawn comparisons to Trump.

She amassed a six-figure following on X and national attention, using the social media platform to advocate forcefully for her priorities and to bash her critics, including former GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. She's also occasionally blasted members of her own party, including Spanberger, with whom she's had disagreements.

Earlier this year, Lucas helped lead Democrats' ultimately unsuccessful plan to gerrymander the blue-leaning state's congressional districts into a map intended to elect 10 Democrats and only one Republican. Along the way, she posted quips about four GOP members the intended map sought to oust, joking that they soon would be working at McDonald's. She and other Democrats defended the maps as a reasonable response to Trump-backed efforts to boost the GOP's midterm advantage in other states.

Lucas has been in politics for decades

Lucas has notched several historic firsts in her career. According to a biography from the state library, in 1971 she became the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's first female shipfitter, a physically demanding job that involves working on metal assemblies for vessels.

She launched her political career in 1984, when, the biography said, she became the first Black woman elected to the Portsmouth city council.

After Democrats flipped control of the Senate in 2019, her peers elected her to serve as president pro tempore. And in 2024, she was tapped to lead the chamber's budget committee.

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Rankin reported from Richmond. Associated Press journalists Eric Tucker in Washington and Steve Helber in Norfolk contributed to this report.

Politics in Europe > Le Pen breaks through in French Senate; Five EU states threaten to block EU budget

 

Le Pen scores ‘historic victory’ in French Senate vote

Her National Rally party and an ally have won enough seats to form a group in the upper house for the first time

Published 28 Sep, 2026 17:54 | Updated 28 Sep, 2026 18:55

Marine Le Pen, French political leader and presidential candidate. © Getty Images / Chesnot

Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally (RN) and an allied party have won enough seats in the French Senate to form a group for the first time. The breakthrough comes months before a presidential election in which polls currently put Le Pen in the lead.

RN and the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR) will together hold at least 15 seats in the 348-seat upper house following Sunday’s vote. A group requires a minimum of ten members and gives its lawmakers a greater role in Senate committees, where legislation is examined.

“This is a historic victory, and a major milestone with the formation for the first time of a group in the Senate,” Le Pen wrote on X. She said the result showed the party gaining support across France and that its senators would carry the concerns of local communities into the presidential campaign.

Despite RN’s latest gains, the Senate will remain controlled by the conservative Republicans and their centrist allies.

RN president Jordan Bardella has nevertheless called the result a sign of the party’s momentum ahead of what he described as “the mother of all battles,” referring to the upcoming presidential election.

Read more

Kiev’s backers facing ‘big problem’ after Macron exit – Telegraph

In July, the Paris Court of Appeals reduced Le Pen’s five-year ban on holding elected office over a misused funds conviction, clearing her to run in the 2027 race to replace Emmanuel Macron who will be leaving office after serving two terms.

A Toluna Harris Interactive poll published on Monday has placed Le Pen as the frontrunner at 35-36% in the first round and projected that she would defeat both left-wing France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon and centrist former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in hypothetical runoffs.

The RN breakthrough has drawn a hostile response from rival factions, including from Socialist Senate group leader Patrick Kanner, who said his party would work to contain the “chamber of horrors” entering the Senate.

Le Pen accused Kanner of “dishonoring himself” and insulting both the newly elected senators and the local officials who voted for them.

The prospect of Le Pen replacing Macron raised particular concerns among the Western backers of Ukraine. The Telegraph reported in August that officials fear her election could disrupt the French-led effort to coordinate military and financial support for Kiev, as well as plans to deploy Western troops there after a ceasefire.

RN has long challenged Macron’s approach to the Ukraine conflict, opposing open-ended funding for Kiev and steps it says risk a direct confrontation with Russia. Le Pen has repeatedly stressed that the conflict needs a diplomatic solution and has called for normalizing relations with Moscow.

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EU states push farm aid cuts to fund military buildup

Germany and five other countries have threatened to veto the bloc’s next budget unless Brussels cuts hundreds of billions in spending

Published 29 Sep, 2026 16:41 | Updated 29 Sep, 2026 17:45

FILE PHOTO. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz alongside the leaders of Austria, Denmark, and Finland. © Getty Images / Michele Tantussi

The EU’s next budget should be cut by hundreds of billions of euros and shift funding away from agricultural subsidies and towards military spending, Germany and five other member states have demanded, threatening to block a deal unless Brussels agrees to the reductions.

The ultimatum was set out in a letter, seen by the Financial Times, to Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency and is overseeing the budget negotiations.

It was signed by the leaders of Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Finland, which argued the EU must spend more on defense and other new priorities while reducing the European Commission’s proposed €2 trillion budget for 2028–2034.

The budget “must be fundamentally reformed. We must make choices,” the leaders wrote, according to the Financial Times. A diplomat from one of the six countries told the newspaper there would be no agreement this year unless spending was cut.

Read more

‘They are arming Europe so much that the only way out they have is to do a war’ - Lorenzo Maria Pacini

Agriculture and support for poorer regions have historically accounted for about two-thirds of the EU budget. However, the six countries are demanding that those resources be redirected toward defense, competitiveness and innovation, adding that every area of spending must contribute to the proposed cuts.

The EU’s seven-year budget requires unanimous approval from all 27 member states. However, 17 others, including Spain and Italy, have opposed the German-led group’s demands and have demanded that farm and regional funding be increased.

Berlin’s defense push comes as part of a wider military buildup across Europe, driven by unsubstantiated claims that Russia could attack NATO countries, which Moscow has repeatedly rejected.

Read more

Lavrov warns UN over EU warmongering: As it happened

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to build the strongest conventional army in Europe, while his government has expanded the armed forces and is considering a return to conscription, despite tens of thousands of Germans vehemently opposing the idea.

The prospect of an imminent Russian attack has been challenged even within the six-country group. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said last week that Helsinki’s intelligence sees “no imminent military threat” from Moscow and he has urged European leaders to remain calm.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no reason or intention to attack Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that claims to the contrary are “nonsense” that is meant to ramp up anti-Russian hysteria and justify inflated military budgets and continued spending on Ukraine.

Addressing the UN General Assembly last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that the sheer scale of Europe’s military buildup could itself lead to a confrontation. He also accused the EU’s ruling elites of being infected with “the virus of racial superiority” and espousing extremist Russophobic ideas, while noting that Berlin’s attempts to achieve military primacy on the continent is an attempt to create a “Fourth Reich.”

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Islam in America > Senate Dem Candidate El-Sayed Drops the Mask; Picks up some cool cash from CAIR; Dems boycott Muslim Brotherhood hearings

 

El-Sayed Drops the Mask

Aug 7, 2026 6:00 am By Robert Spencer7 Comments

New in PJ Media:

The Democrat Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate from Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, and his surrogates are ready to condemn you for “Islamophobia” if you dare to bring up the money he received from the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) or his defense of a jihad terror attack on a Jewish preschool.

El-Sayed, his backers would have you believe, is a manifestation of America’s glorious “diversity,” a sign of how marvelously multicultural our nation has become, and that, they tell us, should be a cause for celebration for all people except racist, bigoted “Islamophobes.” A recent El-Sayed speech, however, has just come to light (courtesy of the estimable Middle East Media Research Institute) that indicates, for those who give it the attention it deserves, that there is very good reason to be concerned.

Speaking at the Islamic Institute of America’s complex in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, El-Sayed said: “I just want to reflect for a moment on what this mosque represents. Allah tells us in His holy book, the Quran: ‘You are the best nation brought forward for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil, and believe in Allah.’” That’s Qur’an 3:110.

El-Sayed emphasized the central importance of this verse, pointing out that it “doesn’t say ‘you believe in God’ and then you do the other stuff. It starts with enjoining good, forbidding evil, and believing in Allah. So our faith is about action.” So what does El-Sayed plan to do if he becomes a U.S. senator? The answer is clear: he intends to be a man of action, and to work toward enjoining good and forbidding evil, as a member of “the best nation brought forward for mankind” ought to do.

What El-Sayed is saying here is extremely important, but most people will miss its significance. The Qur’an verse he quotes, 3:110, is in the first place a declaration of Islamic and Muslim supremacy. Muslims are “the best nation,” or as another translation has it, “the best of people.” The same Qur’an elsewhere says that unbelievers are “the most vile of created beings” (98:6). They are not even human in any genuine sense: “Indeed, the worst of animals in Allah’s sight are the ungrateful who will not believe.” (8:55)

The Qur’an even says that Allah created some people solely for the purpose of torturing them in hell: “Already we have created many of the jinn and mankind for hell, having hearts with which they do not understand, and having eyes with which they do not see, and having ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle, no, they are worse. These are the neglectful.” (7:179)

There is more. Read the rest here.

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Abdul El-Sayed Got Six Figures From Unindicted Terror Co-Conspirator Group

Aug 7, 2026 3:00 pm By Daniel Greenfield6 Comments

CAIR’s first senator. Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed

Abdul El-Sayed, who is actually an Egyptian Muslim, campaigned against Haley Stevens who is actually an American from Michigan, by accusing her of being in hock to ‘foreign interests’, meaning Jews, while he represented the interests of Michigan by having a bunch of mullahs in turbans out of Dearborn rally the faithful for him in the name of Allah.

(If Stevens and the Dem establishment had some guts, they would have run those clips on every channel.)

Unsurprisingly, El-Sayed got a whole bunch of money from not just foreign interests, but terror linked ones.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign has collected more than $115,000 from individuals who work for or have held leadership roles with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and formally designated or labeled as such in Florida and Texas.

A Fox News Digital review found that El-Sayed, who has made getting “money out of politics” a central campaign rallying cry, has accepted donations from at least 41 individuals who either work for CAIR, formerly worked for CAIR, or have served in leadership positions with the organization.

The donor list includes several of CAIR’s highest-ranking officials, including national Board Chair Manal Fakhoury, national Board Treasurer Eyas Abdeen, national Vice Chair Emad Sabbah, and CAIR-Michigan board member Jukaku Tayeb, El-Sayed’s father-in-law.

Tayeb has been one of the largest financial backers of the super PAC supporting El-Sayed’s campaign and is also part of the founding committee of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a group linked to Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood funding, Washington Free Beacon first reported.

One donor, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, listed in FEC records under the name Nehad Hammad, drew national condemnation after saying he was “happy” to see Hamas break out of Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, and arguing Israel “does not have the right to self-defense” as an occupying power.

CAIR is an unindicted terror funding co-conspirator. And they didn’t just donate to this race, this was their race. Abdul would be CAIR’s first senator if he wins., and his surrogates are ready to condemn you for “Islamophobia” if you dare to bring up the money he received from the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) or his defense of a jihad terror attack on a Jewish preschool.

El-Sayed, his backers would have you believe, is a manifestation of America’s glorious “diversity,” a sign of how marvelously multicultural our nation has become, and that, they tell us, should be a cause for celebration for all people except racist, bigoted “Islamophobes.” A recent El-Sayed speech, however, has just come to light (courtesy of the estimable Middle East Media Research Institute) that indicates, for those who give it the attention it deserves, that there is very good reason to be concerned.

Speaking at the Islamic Institute of America’s complex in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, El-Sayed said: “I just want to reflect for a moment on what this mosque represents. Allah tells us in His holy book, the Quran: ‘You are the best nation brought forward for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil, and believe in Allah.’” That’s Qur’an 3:110.

El-Sayed emphasized the central importance of this verse, pointing out that it “doesn’t say ‘you believe in God’ and then you do the other stuff. It starts with enjoining good, forbidding evil, and believing in Allah. So our faith is about action.” So what does El-Sayed plan to do if he becomes a U.S. senator? The answer is clear: he intends to be a man of action, and to work toward enjoining good and forbidding evil, as a member of “the best nation brought forward for mankind” ought to do.

What El-Sayed is saying here is extremely important, but most people will miss its significance. The Qur’an verse he quotes, 3:110, is in the first place a declaration of Islamic and Muslim supremacy. Muslims are “the best nation,” or as another translation has it, “the best of people.” The same Qur’an elsewhere says that unbelievers are “the most vile of created beings” (98:6). They are not even human in any genuine sense: “Indeed, the worst of animals in Allah’s sight are the ungrateful who will not believe.” (8:55)

The Qur’an even says that Allah created some people solely for the purpose of torturing them in hell: “Already we have created many of the jinn and mankind for hell, having hearts with which they do not understand, and having eyes with which they do not see, and having ears with which they do not hear. They are like cattle, no, they are worse. These are the neglectful.” (7:179)

There is more. Read the rest here.

Senate Dems to Boycott Senate Hearing on Muslim Brotherhood

Aug 6, 2026 5:00 pm By Daniel Greenfield29 Comments

Standing with America’s enemies.

Understandable move since the Muslim Brotherhood is now a significant part of the Democratic Party’s political operation.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and other Senate Dems on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, Alex Padilla, and Peter Welch issued a snippy statement on their boycott of the “Hidden in Plain Sight: Confronting the Muslim Brotherhood Network in America” hearing by Sen. Ted Cruz.

The statement falsely claimed that this was  “scapegoating Muslims” and claimed that “Democrats have no intention of indulging this political creepshow, particularly after the recent violence targeting places of faith.” A number of such attacks have targeted synagogues and Jews, and the Muslim Brotherhood, the subject of the investigation, has remained a vector for Islamic terrorism.

CAIR, whose leadership supported the Oct 7 attacks carried out by Hamas, the Gaza arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, and which is itself linked to the Brotherhood, issued a statement denouncing what it called “persistent and manufactured anti-Muslim fearmongering” and complained that the witnesses were “known for promoting anti-Muslim narratives”.

The witnesses in question are respected figures who “include Lara Burns, a former FBI special agent and senior research fellow at The George Washington University’s Program on Extremism; Arielle Klepach, senior counsel at the National Jewish Advocacy Center; and Kyle Shideler, a senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy.”

Senate Dems chose to stand with CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood over law enforcement and counterterrorism professionals which is to say, standing with America’s enemies.

Just like in Europe. That's a rabbit hole straight to Hell.

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