A councilman in Washington, D.C., is feeling pretty pleased after a mistrial was declared regarding accusations of his involvement in a $156,000 bribery scandal.
According to U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, her office plans to retry Trayon White following a jury’s inability to reach a verdict after four days of deliberation.
“We want to respect the jury’s decision and get back to the work at hand, which is crucial for the city’s $20 billion budget,” White stated.
He faced bribery charges after prosecutors claimed to possess recordings that captured discussions between him and an FBI informant concerning cash payments he allegedly received on four occasions.
In a statement made after the mistrial, Pirro noted, “We have video evidence showing considerable amounts of cash being handed to a D.C. councilmember related to this $156,000 bribe. We will definitely retry this case and pursue all corruption cases until we reach a verdict.”
When questioned by a reporter about the nature of the money he received, White was evasive. “If the $35,000 wasn’t a bribe, then what was the money for?” the reporter asked. White’s response was, “Let’s keep to the current subject. You know better than that. I can’t comment on that,” further implying that the reporter was off-topic.
As the reporter insisted, “That is the topic,” White reiterated his focus on the jury’s decision and the importance of moving forward with city initiatives.
He further asserted, “The evidence presented by the prosecutor was insufficient for a conviction. No crime occurred; I’ll leave it at that.”
Despite the bribery allegations, White successfully won re-election in 2024. However, in February 2025, the D.C. council voted to expel him. Subsequently, a special election was held, and White ran again, winning decisively in July.
If retried and found guilty, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
Interestingly, White has a controversial history, including a peculiar comment in a 2018 Facebook post where he claimed that Jews controlled the weather. “Everyone needs to pay attention to this climate manipulation,” he remarked, link it to conspiracy theories involving the Rothschilds and suggesting that such control leads to disasters they can profit from. He later apologized for his comments, stating he hadn’t recognized their anti-Semitic implications. The group Jews United for Justice reportedly discussed this with him, clarifying the historical context of such statements.
