An air of triumph surrounded D.C. Council member Trayon White after a judge declared a mistrial Monday in his federal bribery case, while some of his council colleagues have spoken up about the ethics violations revealed during his legal saga.
The Ward 8 Democrat has treated the mistrial as if it were an acquittal, calling the outcome a “victory” in press conferences and official statements.
Mr. White’s Instagram account, where he is a prolific user, is also sharing posts from supporters who celebrated the decision as a major win for the councilman.
People were interested in these podcasts
But federal prosecutors can retry Mr. White on charges that he agreed to accept $156,000 in bribes as part of an alleged bid-rigging scheme.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has promised to do so when she gets the chance. Mr. White responded to Ms. Pirro’s statement by taunting the top prosecutor on social media.
“Trump didn’t fire her yet? Guess she is not tired of losing,” the councilman commented on an Instagram post featuring Ms. Pirro’s statement. “No quid pro quo. Never was and never will be. My God is bigger than the United States Government. We will be ready to put it back in the hands of the people. We The People.”
Prosecutors shared video evidence of Mr. White, 42, pocketing $35,000 in cash-stuffed envelopes while meeting with an FBI informant in 2024.
The informant, former anti-violence nonprofit executive Allieu Kamara, testified that he was paying Mr. White in hopes the council member would steer government money to his organization. Kamara cooperated with the FBI after pleading guilty to a separate scheme in which he defrauded COVID-19 relief programs.
Undercover recordings of their meetings showed Mr. White agreeing to the bribes, and further evidence showed he spoke with government officials about the contracts for Kamara’s nonprofit. But no new money was awarded to Kamara’s organization, and city officials said Mr. White never pressured them to do so.
Defense attorneys argued that Mr. White never intended to fulfill his end of the bribe deal, a necessary component to proving the action was illegal.
The jury deadlocked after four days of deliberations and forced a mistrial. If convicted, Mr. White could have spent up to 15 years in prison.
The lack of a conviction lets Mr. White keep his seat on the D.C. Council, which he reclaimed in a special election last year after being expelled by the entire council.
D.C. Council member Charles Allen, Ward 6 Democrat, appeared interested in repeating the removal process following the mistrial.
“While the jury came away deadlocked today, the facts of what happened haven’t changed. Councilmember Trayon White accepted cash payments on video in exchange for agreeing to influence government contracts,” Mr. Allen wrote Monday.
The council member’s statement said Mr. White’s “continued disregard of ethics in public office [embarrassed] the institution of the Council” and damaged the credibility of anti-violence organizations in the city.
“It is not okay to accept envelopes of cash in exchange for promises to break the law,” Mr. Allen wrote. “Nothing about today’s outcome changes [the] fact that Councilmember Trayon White’s actions violated the Council’s Code of Conduct and the trust given to him by voters and his colleagues on the Council.”
Mr. Allen ended his statement by saying he awaits the next steps from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The court said prosecutors and defense attorneys will meet sometime after Oct. 14 to discuss how the case will proceed.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.