A federal judge was reviewing Monday a last-ditch attempt to toss bribery charges against D.C. Council member Trayon White, whose defense team argued the prosecution failed to provide evidence the Ward 8 Democrat acted on the alleged bribe.
The defense filed a motion over the weekend, arguing the FBI’s “hastily contrived sting operation” with an informant over a seven-week period in the summer of 2024 failed to “sufficiently meet the elements of bribery.”
“No reasonable juror’s eyes and ears could miss how [FBI informant Allieu] Kamara thrust the unsolicited cash on Mr. White without any prior understanding of what it was for, at most asked that Mr. White look into the status of Kamara’s contracts after taking the cash, and explained a later payment as a ‘thank you’ — also known as a gratuity,” the defense wrote.
Prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia argued that the case was built around Mr. White agreeing to the suspected bid-rigging scheme, not his ability to actually influence where the city directed contracts.
Mr. White, 41, is charged with agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for steering government money to his preferred anti-violence groups. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
The prosecution and the defense rested their cases Friday after a week of testimony. The trial mostly centered on undercover recordings that allegedly portray Mr. White pocketing cash-stuffed envelopes from Kamara.
Kamara agreed to cooperate with the FBI after he pleaded guilty to a separate loan scheme involving COVID-19 relief funds. Kamara, a former executive director of nonprofit Life Deeds, has not been sentenced.
Video evidence showed Mr. White met with Kamara four times between June and August 2024, receiving $35,000 during their rendezvous.
Kamara testified that Mr. White was supposed to ensure that Life Deeds contracts were renewed by the city. He added that he was to pay Mr. White kickbacks amounting to 3% of the renewed contract.
“Trayon is a government official,” Kamara told the defense attorneys during cross-examination last week. “He never had to take the money. He wouldn’t be here right now.”
Mr. White ultimately failed to get the Life Deeds contracts renewed.
Court testimony revealed that Mr. White met with Kwelli Sneed, the executive director of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, and discussed Life Deeds’ status with the city during their meeting.
But Ms. Sneed testified that Mr. White never pressured her about awarding a contract to the nonprofit.
Mr. White’s defense team has argued he is the victim of government entrapment. They also argued that the Department of Justice rushed to arrest and charge the lawmaker to satisfy an internal deadline to avoid the criminal case affecting the fall 2024 council elections.
Mr. White was reelected to a third term in spite of his bribery allegations. The D.C. Council voted to expel him in early 2025, but Mr. White won back his seat in a special election last summer.
He was eligible to run for his old seat because he had not been convicted of a crime. If he is found guilty, Mr. White will be removed from office.
Jury deliberations are expected to begin Tuesday if the judge does not dismiss the charges.
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