Investigators found “substantial evidence” that Ward 8 Council member Trayon White, who is facing a federal bribery charge, violated several rules of the D.C. Council’s Code of Official Conduct. News4’s Joseph Olmo reports.
A committee of the D.C. Council voted Monday to recommend expelling member Trayon White after an independent investigation said there was "substantial evidence" White accepted bribes and violated the Council's code of conduct.
On Monday morning, Chairman Phil Mendelson made a motion to expel White during an Ad Hoc Committee meeting.
“Let’s cut through the legal jargon. Trayon White is accused of taking bribes,” Mendelson said in a statement. “The prosecutors have established probable cause, our own independent investigation found substantial evidence that he took bribes, and public servants are prohibited from taking bribes. This is quintessential corruption.”
White is accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in exchange for using his position to pressure employees of the D.C. Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several contracts, prosecutors said. White was the chair of a D.C. Council committee that oversees several agencies, including DYRS.
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White received $35,000 in four cash payments in the alleged scheme, court documents say.
White made a brief statement to reporters after the committee's vote to recommend expulsion, reiterating that residents voted for him in November amid the accusations against him.
"Just last month, over 20,000 people in Ward 8 decided that they wanted me to be their Council member. So, we're sticking to that," he said. "We want the Council to do what's in their rights to do. We accept that. We want to continue to stay unified as a community, as a city. But I know the Council has a job to do."
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The full Council is expected to have a hearing on the matter in late January. White will be able to speak to the Council during that hearing. Then, the Council plans to hold a vote in February.
The Council hired the law firm Latham & Watkins LLP to do an independent investigation into the bribery allegations and concerns about White’s residency.
The firm's 48-page report concluded there was "substantial evidence that Councilmember Trayon White engaged in conduct that violated several provisions of the D.C. Code of Conduct, including multiple rules within the D.C. Council’s Code of Official Conduct, with respect to the bribery allegations,” Council member Kenyan McDuffie said in a statement last week.
The report outlined evidence that suggests White violated several rules, including measures that bar Council members from accepting gifts from prohibited sources and using their position unethically.
"I am profoundly disappointed in the conduct of Trayon White, but the evidence is clear that, whether or not his actions rise to the level of a criminal conviction, they constitute a violation of the Council’s code of conduct and, more importantly, the public’s trust," McDuffie, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, said in a statement Monday.
Investigators did not find substantial evidence that White violated residency requirements. White was linked to homes in wards 8 and 6.
The D.C. Council stripped White of his committee leadership following his arrest in August on federal bribery charges.
Last month, White told reporters he’s entitled to due process and pointed out his reelection.
"As a citizen, I would expect the Council to give me the same and the people of Ward 8, the same justice that we allow the federal government to give us. And that's just the vote of the people. Twenty-thousand people voted for me to be the Council member last week … in Ward 8," Ward said. "And so we plan to fight the government in court and just go through the process. And I think that, you know, we have to hear to voice the people."
The D.C. Council investigation into White was estimated to cost taxpayers $400,000.
If the Council does vote to expel White, the city will have to hold a special election to fill his Ward 8 seat. It's possible White could win that election and be sworn back onto the Council. But it's unknown if the Council would vote to expel him a second time.
