D.C. Council member Trayon White charged with bribery in federal court

D.C. Council member Trayon White was arraigned on charges of accepting more than $150,000 in bribes in federal court on Monday, a day after his arrest in Southeast.

An FBI agent’s affidavit says Mr. White, 40, agreed in June to accept roughly $156,000 in kickbacks and cash payments in exchange for pressuring city employees to extend two companies’ contracts for violence intervention services. The contracts were worth more than $5 million.

He also accepted a $20,000 bribe payment to help resolve a contract dispute for one of the companies by pressuring high-level city officials, according to the affidavit.

An FBI informant who agreed to plead guilty to fraud and bribery charges reported giving Mr. White gifts, including travel to the Dominican Republic and Las Vegas and cash payments, federal authorities said.

Federal authorities arrested the Ward 8 Democrat on Sunday near the Navy Yard neighborhood in Southeast.

Mr. White, who was held overnight in federal custody, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

In U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, he tapped his chest to acknowledge a group of supporters watching the proceedings Monday. One woman wept as the hearing began.

Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey released Mr. White, expecting him to return for his court date next month.

The council member declined to comment as he was quickly led out of the courthouse and into an idling SUV on Third Street Northwest.

Supporters shielded Mr. White from media cameras and chanted, “Ward 8! Ward 8!” as he ducked into the car.

His attorney, Frederick Cooke Jr., declined to comment.

Mr. White, who first took his seat on the council in 2017, is perhaps best known for his 2018 comments about European Jewish financiers controlling the weather and the federal government.

He has since apologized but has supported Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam.

Mr. White won a competitive Democratic primary in June, all but ensuring he would be reelected by Southeast’s overwhelmingly Democratic populace this fall.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson called the charges a “gut punch to the public trust in the Council” and urged voters to reject Mr. White at the ballot box in November.

“Unfortunately, it is impossible to create laws that actually prevent individuals from breaking the law,” Mr. Mendelson said. “What does make a difference, however, is electing individuals who aspire to higher ethical standards.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser said she wasn’t aware of the specific accusations because she was at an unrelated event when Mr. White’s court hearing began.

The city’s top elected official said the news will give Washingtonians “a lot of heartburn and serious questions and disappointment and anger.”

The mayor said she would investigate whether Mr. White’s alleged conduct affected government operations in any way.

Mr. Mendelson said he would create an ad hoc committee to investigate the alleged crimes and questions about Mr. White’s residency in Ward 8. Council members who represent wards must live among their constituents.

He plans to provide more details about the ad hoc committee this week.

The chairman said he will also seek to remove Mr. White from his chairmanship of the Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs once the council is back in session next month.

Mr. White is accused of directing contracts to the Office of Neighborhood and Safety Engagement and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. He directly oversees the department on his council committee.

Mr. White is accused in court documents of accepting, during four instances, $35,000 in bribe payments while meeting with an FBI informant from the end of June to early August.

According to the charges, the informant gave the council member $15,000 during their first meeting so Mr. White could persuade an Office of Neighborhood and Safety Engagement employee to award a grant to the informant’s company.

In audio captured from a recorded June 26 meeting, Mr. White suggests to the informant that they figure out how to “get into the mental health space” because he has “four more new years.” Mr. White won his ward’s primary on June 4.

The complaint said the informant offered to give the council member 3% of each grant’s value as a kickback during a July 17 meeting with Mr. White.

The informant showed Mr. White a ledger where he would pay the politician $141,000 for securing him grants with the Office of Neighborhood and Safety Engagement.

The filing said Mr. White and the informant talked about getting involved in mental health services again at this meeting. The council member allegedly called it a “cash cow.”

He also suggested getting involved in housing because “you are going to get the most money.”

The July 17 meeting ended with the informant handing Mr. White an envelope stuffed with $5,000.

“Once you and I lock eyes and gets to an understanding, I gets to work,” Mr. White allegedly said. “I can start making s—- happen.”

Court documents said the informant gave Mr. White $10,000 during their July 25 meeting and $5,000 during their Aug. 9 meeting.

Mr. White is accused of threatening to not support an Office of Neighborhood and Safety Engagement employee’s council confirmation if lawmakers didn’t award grants to his preferred service providers.

“I got great weight when it comes to violence and work on that council,” the politician told the informant, according to the complaint.

Mr. White is due back in court on Sept. 19.