Updated at 12:44 pm to include remarks from Attorney General Todd Blanche’s press conference.

Updated at 1:48 to include remarks by Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle and Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

The President Pro Tempore of the Virginia Senate and chair of the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee L. Louise Lucas has been charged by federal authorities on five counts, which are spelled out in a 45-page indictment. The indictment names a total of seven individuals charged under eight different counts.

Sen. Lucas is charged with:

• Racketeering conspiracy
• Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute marijuana
• Conspiracy to launder money
• Conspiracy to commit honest services fraud
• Maintaining a drug involved premises

Also charged are Sen. Lucas’ two daughters, Lisa Lucas Burke (five counts) and Theresa Lucas-Lamb (four counts), and her grandson Ryan Eichelberger (five counts).

In a statement released on Twitter Thursday morning, Lucas said:

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.

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.

I’m not new to this. I’m true to this.

I will not be intimidated. I will not be bulled. And I will not back down.

In a statement released on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell said that “The federal indictment unsealed this week contains serious allegations, and Senator Lucas is entitled to the same presumption of innocence that every American receives.  She is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.  I will not comment on the evidence in this case, and I urge others to show the same restraint.”

He went on to say that “It has been apparent from the beginning that this matter has been driven by politics,” stating that the prosecution is being brought by the “most corrupt administration in American history,” and that the Department of Justice is led by “the President’s former personal attorney.”

He also pointed to the instability within the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Lindsey Halligan was installed to lead the office, and a federal judge ruled that her appointment was unlawful.  She then left the office,” he wrote. “Federal law provides that U.S. Attorneys are nominated by the President and confirmed by the full Senate.  That process gives Virginia’s senators a voice in who holds this office, and it is a safeguard against undue influence by the Department of Justice or the administration over prosecutions in our Commonwealth.  Leaving the office to acting or interim officials, rather than nominating a qualified candidate for confirmation, bypasses that safeguard.”

Gov. Abigail Spanberger in her released statement stressed the importance of letting the judicial process play out, and she also challenged the timing of the indictment. “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.”

Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle said in his statement that “The federal indictment contains serious allegations, and the justice system will continue to do its job and get to the bottom of it. While the constitutional process plays out, I will have no additional comment.” His concern, and the concern of Senate Republicans, he continued, is “to focus on state legislative policies that will make the lives of Virginia families more affordable. Delivering real results on keeping more money in your pocket is where our attention stays.”

The Timing of the Indictments, and the Midterm Elections

The timing of such a high-profile indictment of a political figure less than two weeks before the midterm elections has raised concerns.

In a text message with the Virginia Free Press, Sen. Surovell said that “the timing is very suspicious given DOJ’s policy not to indict elected officials within 60 days of their own election given that one of the co-defendants is up for election in 12 days.”

Sen. Lucas’ daughter, Lisa Lucas-Burke, is on the ballot for Portsmouth City Council.

“DOJ has developed a series of practices over the decades to avoid any kind of suggestion that their prosecutions are politically motivated,” Surovell continued, “and the process by which this prosecution is started has violated many of those norms.”

In a press conference held in Norfolk, Attorney General Todd Blanche said that “The complaints [about the 60-day rule] are not consistent with the Justice manual.”

He later commented that there isn’t a 60-day rule; rather, it’s a “practice.”

As for its potential impact on the elections, opinions were split among those VFP spoke with.

“This is likely to have little political impact,” Stephen Farnsworth told VFP over the phone. A retired professor emeritus of political science at the University of Mary Washington, he added that “People will evaluate this indictment on the basis of their own party leanings. Republicans will treat this like another story about a corrupt Democrat, and Democrats will treat this like another story like the Reflecting Pool.”

He continued: “In time, we’ll see which side is right.”

Sen. Surovell told VFP that he didn’t “think it’ll impact the midterms in any way.”

However, Richard Meagher, chair of the Department of Political Science and Global Affairs and Randolph-Macon College in Ashburn, Virginia, told the Free Press via phone that this move could backfire on Republicans politically.

Noting that there’s a “general unwillingness of law enforcement to get involved in politics — they want to prosecute lawbreakers, not make political statements,” Meagher said that the arrest coming on the heals of the raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) home in Washington, D.C., last week is simplifying the campaign message for Democrats.

“The Democrats have had to think about strategy in the past concerning Trump,” he said. Do they focus on him? “Or affordability? … what [should] the message should be?” With today’s arrest and last week’s raid, Meagher continued, “the Trump administration is simplifying that through this prosecution.”

Today’s actions, he said, “does not help Virginia Republicans steer issues back to any other issue but Trump himself.” He concluded, “I don’t think Rob Wittman is real happy about what is coming out of Norfolk right now.”