The Prosecution of Trayon White

Images of Trayon White in the passenger seat of a car, allegedly pocketing envelopes of cash on multiple occasions, have been splashed across the media. And now the 40-year-old DC councilmember, a protégé of the late Marion Barry, faces federal bribery charges and up to 15 years in prison.

ly pocketing envelopes of cash on multiple occasions, have been splashed across the media. And now the 40-year-old DC councilmember, a protégé of the late Marion Barry, faces federal bribery charges and up to 15 years in prison.

White is just the latest in a long line of Black DC officials with Black voter bases to face federal prosecution.

Things came to a head Sunday, August 18, when FBI agents – some carrying battering rams – swarmed White at a luxury high-rise in DC’s Navy Yard neighborhood. “They wanted to humiliate this man,” Kymone Freeman, co-founder of We Act Radio in DC’s Ward 8, told the Washington Informer. “This was a public spectacle.”

White apparently lives in the Navy Yard building, which has a rooftop infinity pool and steep rents. But the building is in Ward 6, just outside of Ward 8, which White represents. And DC councilmembers are required to live in the ward they represent.

In addition to the high-end apartment, White’s finances may have been further strained by his rumored big spending at MGM National Harbor casino. Plus, in 2020 White bought a home in Ward 8’s Washington Highlands neighborhood, and he sought HUD’s assistance with mortgage payments on the house as recently as December, the Washington Post reported.

Like several of DC’s fallen Black leaders, White’s lifestyle appears to have outpaced his Council salary of $167,037, making him easy pickings for the feds.

“I’m hurting. I’ve been hurting for a minute,” White told a DC contractor who was quietly paying him, and even more quietly working with the FBI, according to an affidavit submitted by the US Attorney’s Office for DC.

The affidavit doesn’t name the contractor, but the Washington Post reported that it’s likely Allieu Kamara of Life Deeds Inc. (Kamara was subsequently assaulted in response to his cooperation, according to a popular DC Instagram account.)

In exchange for helping Life Deeds secure DC government contracts, White agreed to accept over $150,000 in bribes from Kamara, the US Attorney’s Office for DC alleges in a criminal complaint.

Gentrification Is Part of the Story

DC has seen an influx of billions of dollars of investment over the past few decades. But this infusion of capital hasn’t uplifted the city’s once-majority Black residents so much as it’s uprooted them by the tens of thousands. And Black Washingtonians who’ve remained in DC have found themselves largely excluded from the financial windfall, even as they’re forced to pay a gentrification tax in the form of ballooning rents.

“You ride through Ward 8, it’s transforming,” White told me back in 2011, shortly after he was elected to the school board to represent the ward, which is over 80 percent Black and has the city’s highest poverty. “Unfortunately, those that have are trying to move out those who have not, and you can see it happening all over the place.”

Like other officials who have tried to temper gentrification so their Black constituents aren’t pushed out of DC, White’s career — which hasn’t been without controversy — is now in jeopardy. White’s prosecution follows those of Michael Brown, Harry Thomas, Marion Barry, Kwame Brown and Vince Gray (who was all but charged) – all Black politicians with strong Black voter bases.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed in Ward 8. “My feeling is I think it’s a setup because he’s a Black man,” Keith Anthony Thomas, 78, told the Post. “I haven’t seen very many politicians ridiculed or investigated or looked at with this extra eye as much as Trayon,” Derek Floyd told the Post.

Others in Ward 8 reacted to the news with sadness. “I’m surprised to hear about the bribery. That’s shocking to hear,” a woman told NBC4 outside of Giant, Ward 8’s only full-service grocery store, which White fought to keep open. “But I did like him. So, hopefully it’s not true.”

Jack Evans

On the other side of the Anacostia River, politicians are treated differently, particularly those who use the levers of government to accelerate gentrification. There’s no better example of this than Jack Evans.

Over his nearly 30 years on the DC Council, Evans took home around $4 million in outside income, which he secured at least in part by selling his public office to private patrons. Despite his corruption, Evans hasn’t been charged.

And four years after resigning in disgrace, Evans is back on the city’s payroll, only now indirectly as a consultant. In his new role, Evans is reprising his mission of siphoning from the many to give to the few, as he pushes for the city to spend tax dollars building a new football stadium. “There’s so much that a domed football stadium can do for a jurisdiction,” Evans told WUSA9 in May.

Evans’ resurfacing passes with little comment, even as tongues wag about White’s serious but lesser alleged misconduct.

What’s next?

While the case against White should be a slam dunk, it isn’t likely to be. That’s because the legal definition of bribery has been narrowed to the point of absurdity by the Supreme Court. (Coincidentally, several of the justices have themselves been treated to millions of dollars’ worth of secret, bribe-like gifts.)

White’s next hearing is scheduled for September 19. Absent his conviction, White is eligible to continue serving on the DC Council. Although that doesn’t mean he will, as Chairman Phil Mendelson is considering expelling White, an unprecedented move that would require a supermajority vote. (Mendelson wasn’t as aggressive when it came to his buddy Evans.)

On the campaign front, White won the June Democratic primary, the election that matters in deep blue Ward 8. If he withdraws from the race by September 12, the DC Democratic Party can name his replacement on the November ballot, but White has shown no indication he’ll do that. Meanwhile, amid the maelstrom, potential challengers are weighing write-in campaigns.

So the coming months promise to be interesting. While all eyes will be on White’s troubled dealings, in the background lurks an equally troubling context. Trayon White is just the latest, in a long line of Black DC officials backed by Black voters, to be prosecuted by the feds.

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