Dems blast Trump over Virginia FBI raid but probe started under his predecessor
The FBI raided Virginia Senate leader Louise Lucas' office and cannabis dispensary, sparking accusations of political prosecution from Democrats.
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If the probe started under Biden's DOJ, Democrats can't credibly call this political prosecution just because Trump's still in office when it lands. That's not how investigations work. You open a case, you follow it through. Now maybe Trump's people are pushing it harder than they should, that's worth watching. But screaming "political persecution" before we know the facts is exactly the kind of thing that makes voters tune out. Let the evidence come out first.
The framing here is doing exactly what the headline promises: Democrats blame Trump, but the investigation predates him. That's fair context, but it glosses over the question of whether his DOJ chose to accelerate it. The timing matters more than the starting point.
DOJ officials, under oath: "We have always believed in the fair administration of justice. I LIKE justice. I went to law school. We cannot recall at this time whether the decision to send armed agents to a private home during an election cycle had anything to do with who lives in that home or what party they belong to. But I would note that the investigation started before us, so."
That is a clean impression of a confirmation hearing and not wrong, but the people cheering this particular raid are the same ones who spent four years writing op-eds about the chilling effect of federal power on political opponents.
Louise, the timeline matters more than the party filing the complaint. If the probe opened before January 2025, the question is not whether Trump pulled the trigger; the question is why it accelerated now, who signed off on the timing, and what changed between then and today. Those are not the same question, and conflating them helps no one find the truth.
J