Despite a looming bribery scandal, former Washington D.C. Councilmember Trayon White Sr. secured his seat Tuesday after previously being kicked out following an FBI arrest and charge.
White was arrested in August 2024 on a federal bribery charge, prompting a unanimous vote by the D.C. Council to expel him in February. But since he hadn’t been convicted of a felony, he was allowed to run in the special election against candidates Mike Austin, Sheila Bunn and Salim Adofo, according to the Associated Press.
While some believed the charges would tank his campaign, AP projected White the winner with just under 29.5% of the vote by Tuesday evening, as Axios reported about 12% of local voters had turned out.
“So we sent a message loud and clear to D.C. City Council that Trayon White is here to stay,” White said during his victory speech, according to AP News. “It’s a testament, man, that if you fall down — because we’re all going to fall down — but can you get back up? Today Ward 8 stood up.”
White allegedly agreed to accept a total of $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position on the D.C. Council to pressure government employees at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and also the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to extend several D.C. contracts, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The contracts were reportedly worth $5.2 million and tied to two companies providing violence intervention services in the city.
White had allegedly been meeting with a “confidential human source” since June 2024 and accepted four separate payments during those meetings, according to the press release. An arrest affidavit from the FBI’s D.C. Field Office showed an image of White allegedly being caught on camera during one of the meetings and placing a white envelope containing $15,000 in cash into his jacket pocket after the confidential source handed it to him.
“Because the investigation into the alleged bribery scheme involved contracts that could soon be awarded and other potential official acts that could be taken, our Office took swift steps to address the alleged crimes we were investigating,” U.S. Attorney Graves said.
Prior to his charges, White was accused in 2018 of making antisemitic comments after suggesting that Jewish bankers were secretly controlling the weather. The controversy broke out on March 18 in a Facebook video, and he later apologized after receiving backlash.
Questions about White’s ties to the Nation of Islam also surfaced after he gave $500 to a Nation of Islam event through a fund designated for community services, according to The Washington Post.
White has since pleaded not guilty to the bribery charges, with his trial expected to begin in January 2026.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Adam Michael Szuscik/Unsplash)
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