A mistrial has been declared after D.C. Councilmember Trayon White faced a federal bribery charge. The Office of U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said they plan to retry the case. Jurors reached their decision Monday, on a fourth day of deliberations.
White was charged with bribery after he was seen on video accepting envelopes stuffed with cash.
“This has been one of the hardest two years of my life, fighting the system,” White said outside the courthouse. “But through it all, I’m grateful. I’m humble, and I feel like I’m redeemed again.”
White, who represents Ward 8, was arrested in 2024 on a charge that he accepted $35,000 in bribes in exchange for pressuring D.C. employees to extend city contracts for violence intervention services. Authorities said they secretly recorded conversations between White and an FBI informant who gave White the cash on four occasions. Prosecutors said White was offered a total of $156,000.
White pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence.
Pirro told why her office plans to retry the case.
“We have video showing piles of cash being given to a D.C. councilmember as part of a $156,000 bribe. Rest assured that we will retry this case and every corruption case to verdict,” Pirro said in a statement.
If the $35K cash wasn’t a bribe, what was it? White’s reply
News4 asked White outside the courthouse: If the $35,000 cash he accepted wasn’t a bribe, what was it?
“Let’s stick to the topic, man. Come on. You’re smarter than that. I can’t speak to that,” he replied.
“That is the topic,” News4 said.
White said he would get back to work to ensure equity and inclusion.
“There was no there there. And the jury, under careful deliberations – in fact, the jury deliberated longer than the trial lasted. The prosecutor didn’t submit sufficient enough evidence to convict me of a crime. There was no crime in the first place.”
White evoked former mayor Marion Barry and the investigation into the death of Nolan Wells, and said he is considering going to law school.
“There are too many brothers and sisters that look like me that never make it out the courtroom,” he said.
White thanked many supporters and prominent figures, including Janeese Lewis George, the Democratic nominee for mayor. Lewis George had no comment.
Mayor Muriel Bowser also had no comment, a spokesperson said.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson’s office said no changes to council committee assignments are expected during this council period. Mendelson will discuss the issue with colleagues “in the near future,” a spokesman said.
D.C. Councilmembers still could choose to vote to expel White based on the code of conduct.
On social media Monday afternoon, White thanked God and his supporters and said he was headed to Players Lounge on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Barry often held events there, including during his legal fight in the early 1990s.
The Ward 8 representative on the D.C. Council spoke at length outside the courthouse after a federal judge declared a mistrial in the case. News4’s Paul Wagner reports.
A key question among jurors: What was White’s intent?
During the trial, the defense told jurors they need to find that prosecutors proved three things: that White took the money, that he was a public official at the time, and that he agreed and intended to commit a corrupt official act. White’s attorneys argue prosecutors have never proved White’s intent.
A key question among jurors was whether they must find that White intended to commit a corrupt official act.
On Wednesday, jurors asked the judge in a note whether a man seen on camera giving White cash needed to receive a contractual benefit in exchange for the money for it to be considered bribery. The judge’s answer was no” On Thursday, jurors asked if it’s bribery if White took the money but did not intend to commit a corrupt act. The judge again said no.
Jurors told the judge on Friday that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. The defense asked the judge to excuse the jury and declare a mistrial, while prosecutors urged the judge to order jurors to continue deliberations, which he did, ordering them to keep trying.
News4’s Mark Segraves lays out how D.C. Councilmember Trayon White could be tried again, how he still could lose his position on the council – and why the case is sparking fears about President Trump’s repeated threats to federalize the District.
The majority-white jury was made up of nine women and five men.
The maximum penalty White would have received was typically 15 years, but he likely would have received a lesser sentence because it would have been his first offense.
The defense decided not to use an entrapment argument as part of their closing arguments, which wrapped Tuesday in the federal bribery trial of D.C. Councilmember Trayon White. Starting Wednesday, the 12 men and women on the jury decide White’s fate. Watch News4’s Mark Segraves report.
D.C. law says anyone convicted of a felony while holding office cannot be a councilmember. People familiar with the matter said they expected a court battle over whether White could continue to hold his position during an appeal.
Other D.C. Council members voted unanimously to oust White after his arrest, but he won a special election last year to retake the Ward 8 council seat vacated by his expulsion.
In the fourth day of testimony in the federal bribery trial of D.C. Councilmember Trayon White, prosecutors went over what they called a “bribery contract” and showed video of what they say was first time an FBI informant gave him cash. Plus, an IRS special agent testified on White’s overdrawn checking account at the time. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.
Key witness said cash he gave Trayon White were bribes
An FBI informant took the stand and testified the cash he gave White on camera was bribery. Allieu Kamara said there were never any cash loans or gifts between Kamara and White, and that an envelope of money Kamara is seen on video giving to White was not a campaign donation; it was a bribe, he said.
Video played in court showed five meetings involving the councilmember, including several in which White took cash and spoke about government contracts with Kamara.
The defense tried to poke holes in prosecution’s claims that the funds were bribes, saying there was no proof Kamara didn’t owe White money from past dealings.
Agents arrested White on Aug. 18, 2024, because of guidelines about elected officials and upcoming elections. It was the deadline before the FBI would have had to suspend the investigation until after the November 2024 election.
The person in charge of grants for the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services testified that it was unusual for a government official to contact him about a specific contract and said that had never happened to him before. But when asked if White tried to influence him on any contract, he said “no.”
Defense argued cash White took may have been campaign donations
The defense told the judge on Tuesday that they would not say in closing arguments that White had been entrapped. If they had, prosecutors would have been able to bring in any evidence of alleged misdeeds by the councilmember, in a bid to prove he was predisposed to taking a bribe.
The defense argued that jurors did not hear from a single witness who said White pressured them to do anything wrong to get contracts approved. They went after Kamara’s character. The defense did not try to explain why White was taking cash, except to say the funds may have been campaign donations, which they argued is not necessarily illegal.
The prosecution walked jurors through video evidence and texts.
Kweli Sneed, who was interim director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, testified for the defense. In videos, White could be heard saying he pressured her and threatened not to vote for her confirmation unless she helped with the contracts.
Under oath, when Sneed was asked by defense attorneys if that ever happened, she repeatedly said “no” and that he never put any pressure on her or threatened her confirmation.
In a social media post before the trial began, White asked Black residents to make sure that they were registered so they might be a part of the jury pool. There were a couple of prospective jurors who said they had heard the allegations from the U.S. attorney about possible jury tampering from that Instagram post, which was later deleted.
Two witnesses took the stand on day one of testimony in the federal bribery trial for D.C. Councilmember Trayon White. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.
Prosecutors showed ‘bribery contract’ between White and Kamara
Prosecutors went over what they called a “bribery contract” and showed video of what they say was the first time Kamara gave him cash.
Plus, an IRS special agent testified on White’s overdrawn checking account at the time.
The prosecution hammered on video of Kamara giving White cash – $15,000 – and the conversation between the two.
“What do you need me to do, man? I don’t want you to feel like you need to give me something to get something,” White says.
“No, no, it’s cool. That’s cool, but I definitely need you,” Kamara says.
Prosecutors went over a handwritten document they referred to as the bribery contract. Kamara laid out all the contracts he was seeking help with, their dollar amount and what the 3% kickback would be for White if he helped, totaling up to $141,000.
An IRS special agent testified that at the time White was taking cash payments from Kamara, White had $9 in his savings account, and his checking account was overdrawn by as much as $1,000.
White, a D.C. native, first represented Ward 8 on the Council in 2017. The former community activist draws frequent praise for his work to prevent gun violence, advocate for crime victims and create opportunities for young people.
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For the first time since being charged with taking a bribe, D.C. Councilmember Trayon White has publicly apologized — during his swearing-in ceremony for another term on the Council. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.
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