The FBI raided an office and a cannabis dispensary connected to Virginia Democratic State Senate leader Louise Lucas, a key figure in the congressional redistricting battle. The raid, which took place on Wednesday morning, was related to a public corruption investigation, a source familiar with the search told The Daily Wire. Fox News correspondent Alex Hogan told Fox News host Harris Faulkner that federal agents were executing “court-authorized criminal search warrants” at Lucas’s office in Portsmouth, Virginia — and a dispensary next door. WATCH: NOW: An FBI raid is unfolding at the office of Virginia Democratic State Sen. Louise Lucas — and it’s already drawing serious attention. Multiple people on the scene are reportedly being taken into custody as agents move through the area. The office sits near several cannabis… pic.twitter.com/WIcn9xrzOy — Fox News (@FoxNews) May 6, 2026 The FBI is currently carrying out a raid at the office of Senator Louise Lucas in Portsmouth, VA. Here at this nearby cannabis dispensary, at least three people were taken into custody. Federal law enforcement say they’re conducting “court authorized criminal search warrants”. pic.twitter.com/UL2c7yAk0L — Alex Hogan (@AlexHoganTV) May 6, 2026 “All of the staffers inside this building were told to come outside, I could hear them saying that they were not allowed back in the building,” Hogan said, reporting from the street in front of Lucas’s office. “Throughout the last hour, we’ve been seeing the FBI come and go, carrying boxes out of the building.” “Just across the parking lot, next to where I am, there’s a cannabis dispensary, we know that the state senator is associated with several cannabis locations and dispensaries, and what we’re seeing is there a completely different scene with SWAT teams arrived with guns drawn, telling anyone in the building to come out of the building with their hands up.” Hogan said that she’d also seen three people taken, put on the ground, cuffed, and taken into custody as the events of the morning had played out. Lucas herself appeared on the scene at one point during the raid, and when Hogan asked for her reaction to the law enforcement action, she said that she had “no idea” what the FBI was doing there. Hogan confirmed that at least ten locations were being “looked at” by federal agents in connection with the same case. Lucas, the President Pro Tempore of the Virginia Senate, was a key player in her party’s efforts to gerrymander a dramatic Democratic advantage in Virginia’s congressional map. She has often jabbed at newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), claiming that she has a “credibility problem.” Wednesday’s raid was not Lucas’s first brush with the law, as she was previously charged with felony conspiracy and injury to a monument exceeding $1,000 after she took part in a 2020 protest where a Confederate monument was vandalized. Her Democrat allies in the state, from then-Governor Ralph Northam to former-Governor Terry McAuliffe, suggested that Lucas was only charged because she was black. Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene, who charged Lucas and 18 others who participated in the protest, was also black. Greene was fired before Lucas’s case was even heard, and the city officials responsible for her termination would only say that it was “a personnel matter” and that she could be fired at any time because she was an “at-will” employee. The charges against Lucas were dropped later that same year. She also made headlines during the 2025 Virginia election cycle when she backed Attorney General Jay Jones (D-VA) after text messages surfaced in which he’d fantasized about shooting a Republican lawmaker. Posting an image that said “Virginia is for lovers, not snitches,” Lucas made it clear that her anger was directed at the people who’d exposed Jones rather than the candidate himself, who’d advocated for political violence. As The Daily Wire’s Luke Rosiak reported, Lucas announced her plan to push ahead with her extra-legal redistricting efforts even then. Lucas also reposted a comment calling her “ruthless,” and said she intends to redistrict the state (where Republican candidates received 43%, 45%, and 47% of the vote on Tuesday) has only a single Republican in Congress. That would involve a similarly ruthless move. Democrats enacted a 45-day early voting period, which caused some people to vote before learning about Jones’ support for violence. But for purposes of amending the Constitution to get rid of nonpartisan redistricting – which requires giving voters the chance to punish politicians at the ballot box for trying such a move – they ignored the fact that many had already cast ballots before they initiated the controversial move, counting only Tuesday as the “election.” Outgoing Attorney General Miyares issued an opinion saying that it would be illegal, but Lucas said, “Your opinions are sh*t. They’re f*cking sh*t.” The newly drawn Virginia map passed in an April election, but legal challenges have put the measure on hold.

WASHINGTON — The new White House Counter Terrorism Strategy promises “rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups,” including those subscribing to transgender ideology, The Daily Wire has learned. The long-awaited report was published Wednesday afternoon and examines threats of terrorism to the United States from all angles. It also includes a strong threat from President Donald Trump to any adversary who plans to hurt Americans: “We Will Find You and We Will Kill You.” During a call with reporters on Wednesday, Sebastian Gorka, the senior director for counterterrorism at the White House National Security Council, slammed previous administrations for ignoring or underplaying real threats while weaponizing agencies against Americans, especially Americans of faith. “As real threats were ignored or underplayed, Americans have witnessed the politically motivated killings of Christians and conservatives increasingly committed by violent Left-wing extremists, including the assassination of my friend Charlie Kirk by a radical who espoused extremist transgender ideologies,” the counterterrorism senior director said.  The Trump White House is taking that threat very seriously, he noted, and, in addition to the threats posed by cartels and by Jihadist groups, it is specifically focused on “violent secular political groups.” “In addition to cartels and Islamist terror groups, our national counterterrorism activities will prioritize the rapid identification and neutralization of violent secular political groups whose ideology is anti-American, radically pro-gender, or anarchist, such as Antifa,” Gorka explained. ” We will use all the tools constitutionally available to us to map them at home, identify their membership, map their ties to international organizations like Antifa, and use law enforcement tools to cripple them operationally before they can maim or kill the innocent.”  The Trump administration will do the same with state sponsors of groups and governments who are undertaking lethal plots on U.S. soil or against Americans anywhere, he added. Gorka told The Daily Wire on Wednesday that the United States is seeing a “resurgence of violent Left-wing ideologies.”  “This is familiar to anyone who’s studied modern terrorism,” he noted. “The age of modern terrorism actually begins in the 1920s with the anarchist movement in Russia. Over time it has morphed. It has developed.” The National Counter Terrorism senior director pointed to the slew of violence that trans-identifying individuals have committed against Christians in recent years. “Sadly,” he said, “if you look at the manifestos of individuals who have undertaken successful attacks on the innocent, the justifications for the likes of Audrey Hale, the Covenant School shooter, if you look at Tyler Robinson … the assassin of Charlie Kirk, if you look at Robin or Robert Westman, the murderer of the little children at the Annunciation Catholic School last year, we see an ideology that ostensibly began by preaching tolerance, being used by specific actors to wage violence against the most innocent little children at Catholic schools, at churches.”  “This is a threat we will take very seriously, whether you are Right-wing inspired or Left-wing inspired,” Gorka emphasized. “The point at which you advocate for violence or use violence yourself for political purposes means you are actually undertaking terrorism and we will not permit that to happen on the United States.”  Charlie Kirk’s last conversation before he was assassinated centered on the disturbing rise in transgender violence: he was addressing the question of whether or not the Justice Department should ban guns for people who identify as transgender. Authorities said that he was killed by Tyler Robinson, who was charged with shooting Kirk in the neck. Robinson lived with his “transgender partner,” a male named Lance Twiggs, who identifies as a transgender woman. Weeks before Kirk’s death, on August 27, 2025, trans-identifying shooter Robert Westman killed Catholic school children before taking his own life. And Westman’s attack came just two years after another trans-identifying killer targeted Christian school children in Nashville. “It is the great irony of the modern age that we have a political side of the aisle that preaches acceptance and tolerance while at the same time cheering the death of people like my friend Charlie Kirk or assassination attempts against my boss President Trump,” Gorka said on Wednesday.  “We will not permit politically motivated violence in the United States from either side of the aisle, but the sad truth is the Left has far more politically motivated assassinations or attempted assassinations to its credit in recent years, not the Right.”

As fans speculate about casting decisions for Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated summer blockbuster, “The Odyssey,” the Academy Award-winning director is keeping details under wraps other than to say it’s going to be comparable to a Marvel franchise. Nolan appeared on Monday night’s episode of “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert to discuss some aspects of the project. He said the poet Homer, who is credited with writing “The Odyssey,” created the basis upon which all superhero films are built. “Even comic book culture, whether you’re talking about Marvel or DC or all the rest, a lot of it comes directly from the Homeric Epics,” the director said. “The thing about Homer is, nobody knows if that was a person. Homer, in a way, is the sort of George Lucas of his time.” He said later, “The thing about Homer, it is the Marvel of its day. It’s very directly this desire for us to feel or believe gods could walk amongst us, and I think the modern comic book is kind of our expression of that.” Nolan also had rave reviews for Tom Holland, who plays Odysseus’ son Telemachus, calling him an “incredible talent.”  The “Oppenheimer” director is considered one of the best in the business, but fans are skeptical of a few controversial casting options. Elliot Page, a woman who identifies as a man, is in the cast and is rumored to be playing the Olympian messenger god Hermes. That role has not been confirmed, however. Another potential casting choice causing an uproar is Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy. Helen, also known as “the face that launched a thousand ships,” was traditionally blonde and considered the most beautiful woman in the world at the time. Critics are saying the decision to cast Nyong’o in that role is a mistake, but it’s only a rumor that she’ll be playing that part.  Matt Damon portrays Odysseus, King of Ithaca, while Robert Pattinson stars as Antinous. Anne Hathaway was cast as Odysseus’ wife Penelope. Nolan told the Associated Press last week that he felt a “massive amount of pressure” to adapt the story and said that he “really tried to make the best film possible.” “Anyone taking on ‘The Odyssey’ is taking on the hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere and that comes with a huge responsibility,” he told the outlet. “What I learned from [making ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy] is that what people want from a movie about a beloved story, a beloved set of characters, is they want a strong and sincere interpretation. They want to know that a filmmaker has gone to the mat for it.” The saga hits theaters on July 17, 2026.

The Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively legal drama has come to an end without the spectacle of a trial, and legal experts are saying both sides spent “an obscene amount” of money in the process. The former co-stars settled the matter two weeks before the trial was scheduled to kick off in New York, after filing multiple lawsuits and counter suits against each other. New York-based attorney Richard Schoenstein, who does not represent either party, discussed the likely financial fallout with People.  “The combined legal expense is in the multiple millions. There are around 1,500 docket entries, countless lawyers on both sides, and these are high-priced firms billing well over $1,000 an hour,” Schoenstein said, which fellow NY-based attorney Megan Thomas agreed with. She said the two parties spent “an obscene amount” over the past two years.  “I can’t give a number, but both sides had multiple lawyers,” Thomas added. Schoenstein added that mounting costs likely had a lot to do with Lively and Baldoni reaching a settlement. Plus, with both sides having their claims dismissed or reduced, it ended up not being worth the hassle. “I think they settled because the case wasn’t worth it at this point for either of them,” Schoenstein told the outlet. “The case had been reduced — his counterclaims were dismissed, and her claims were substantially narrowed. There wasn’t enough to gain from going to trial given the cost, which would have been extremely high, in the millions.” The legal drama between the former costars started in December 2024 when Lively filed a lawsuit against Baldoni, accusing him of sexual harassment, retaliation, and attempting to “destroy” her reputation. This came after she starred opposite Baldoni in “It Ends With Us,” a film he also directed. Baldoni fervently denied the claims, responding with a countersuit against his co-star and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds. He also sued The New York Times for $250 million in a defamation claim for an article about the situation, which he says is “rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations, and omissions.” The countersuit was dismissed by the judge in June 2025. A federal judge in New York ruled in early April to dismiss 10 of Blake Lively’s 13 claims against Baldoni, including those related to harassment, defamation, and conspiracy.  As both cases fell apart and attorney fees kept climbing, the former co-stars finally came to a confidential settlement on Monday, May 4. It is rumored that the only ones who got paid in the end were the lawyers.  “The end product — the movie ‘It Ends With Us’ — is a source of pride to all of us who worked to bring it to life. Raising awareness, and making a meaningful impact in the lives of domestic violence survivors — and all survivors — is a goal that we stand behind,” a statement from Baldoni and Lively provided to Fox News Digital said. “We acknowledge the process presented challenges and recognize concerns raised by Ms. Lively deserved to be heard,” the statement continued. “We remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments. It is our sincere hope that this brings closure and allows all involved to move forward constructively and in peace, including a respectful environment online.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is launching a new advertising blitz to boost Republican candidates with six months remaining until Election Day. Running in North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, and New Hampshire, the ads focus on affordability and highlight the tax cuts enacted in President Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill.’  “Joe Biden and Democrats’ wasteful spending wrecked the economy,” the ad supporting Michigan’s Republican candidate states. “But Mike Rogers is fighting back – working to cut government spending and advocating for working-class Americans.”  “Republicans are making life more affordable. That means lower costs on groceries, housing, and utilities. Huge tax cuts for hard-working families and more money for our seniors,” the advertisements say. https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Thank-you_MI.mp4 The other five ads — supporting Senator John Husted in Ohio, Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska, Michael Whatley in North Carolina, Ashley Hinson in Iowa, and John Sununu in New Hampshire — use the same script. The messaging highlights how central affordability has become, as polls show growing voter dissatisfaction with prices and the state of the economy. “Working families and seniors are still paying the price for Democrats’ reckless spending spree,” NRSC National Press Secretary Bernadette Breslin told The Daily Wire. “Senate Republicans are fighting to make life more affordable by cutting wasteful spending, reversing Democrats’ inflation, and delivering historic tax relief for hardworking Americans.” With tax season underway, many Americans are seeing larger refunds. As of Feb. 6, 2026, average tax refunds stood at $2,290 — up nearly 11%, according to the IRS. Rising fuel prices, however, may be hitting consumers at the pump. On Tuesday, the national average gas price stood at $4.48, according to AAA.  In battleground Michigan — where Republican Mike Rogers is hoping to flip the seat — gas prices are averaging even higher at $4.82. A Gallup poll released on April 28 found that a record 55% of Americans say their financial situation is getting worse. One in three respondents cited inflation and high prices as their top financial concern. Retaining control of the U.S. Senate is a critical priority for the White House and Congressional Republicans. The upper chamber is responsible for confirming Supreme Court nominees and deciding President Trump’s fate should a Democratic-led House of Representatives vote to impeach him a third time. Prediction markets currently give Republicans a narrow advantage in retaining control.  Republicans hold a 53–47 majority, meaning Democrats would need to flip four seats to take control. If the chamber were split 50–50, Vice President Vance could cast tie-breaking votes. Maine Senator Susan Collins — who is set to face off against Graham Platner — is not included in the NRSC’s advertisement blitz.  Platner, who was exposed for having a Nazi tattoo, also faced backlash for past Reddit posts, including ones where he called himself a “communist” and said, “cops are bastards.” Chuck Schumer’s candidate of choice, Gov. Janet Mills, dropped out of the race after failing to gain traction with left-wing primary voters.  Her exit from the race was welcome news to Republicans. “Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats just coronated a phony who is too extreme for Maine. Susan Collins has always put in the work for her constituents and delivered. Washington Democrats always fall short in Maine and will again, because they just nominated a dishonest radical,” NRSC Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) said in a statement.