An independent investigation of D.C. Council member Trayon White found “substantial evidence” that the Ward 8 Democrat violated the council’s code of conduct amid a federal bribery case in which he’s accused of pocketing thousands of dollars to influence city contracts.
The investigative report, produced by law firm Latham & Watkins and commissioned by the D.C. Council, may provide the legislative body with the firepower it needs to oust Mr. White from his seat in the new year.
The ad-hoc council committee overseeing Mr. White’s potential expulsion is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the report and the next course of action.
The 40-year-old lawmaker is charged with agreeing to accept $156,000 in bribes as part of a scheme to steer contracts involving violence prevention work to his preferred companies.
Federal agents arrested Mr. White in August. Charging documents contain photos of the councilman taking $35,000 in cash-stuffed envelopes while meeting with an FBI informant.
Mr. White pleaded not guilty to the charges this fall. He is scheduled to go to trial in January 2026.
The informant is believed to be Allieu Badara Kamara Jr., the former executive director of D.C. nonprofit Life Deeds.
Kamara pleaded guilty last summer to defrauding a pandemic-era loan program and to offering a bribe to a city employee to steer contracts to his business.
The plea agreement wasn’t unsealed until October because prosecutors were worried revealing Kamara’s name would jeopardize another unspecified investigation.
New information provided in the report verified that Mr. White met with government employees soon after telling the informant he would do so.
The report said that five days after his initial meeting with the informant on June 26, Mr. White contacted the Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services about submitting grant applications.
The councilman oversaw the agency in his role then as head of the council’s Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs.
The report also said Mr. White met with an official from the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement a day after a July 17 meeting and alleged payout from the informant.
“Our investigation further found that, during those conversations, Councilmember White explicitly inquired regarding grant awards and the status of [the informant’s] organizations specifically.”
A DYRS employee told the investigators that Mr. White never offered him anything of value, either in exchange for his work selecting certain grantees or otherwise.
The ONSE employee who met with Mr. White said they were confused by the meeting because the informant’s company doesn’t serve Ward 8, according to the report.
The report further said Mr. White broke council rules by accepting $35,000 in cash from the informant and went over a ledger detailing he would receive a 3% cut for grant renewals he helped obtain. Despite the report’s findings, those allegations haven’t been proven in court.
Following the ad-hoc meeting on the report next week, Mr. White could know his punishment as soon as the end of January.
The legislative body would need 11 of 13 lawmakers to vote in support of his removal for him to be expelled.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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