DC Council expected to remove Trayon White's committee chairmanship

The D.C. Council will vote to effectively take away Council member Trayon White’s committee chairmanship when it returns from summer break Tuesday.

Ward 8 Council member White pleaded not guilty last week to taking a bribe to help steer government contracts.

Now, the D.C. Council will vote on reorganizing the Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs – splitting it into two subcommittees overseen by other council members, leaving White without a committee chairmanship.

“That will be before the Council tomorrow as a resolution, and I’m not expecting that there will be, I don’t see much debate about that,” Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said. “I think the Council members are supportive.”

Mendelson said the Council will hire an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the bribery charge and whether White actually lives in Ward 8 as required by law. White was arrested in Ward 6, where he was living according to prosecutors.

Mendelson said those findings will determine whether the Council votes to remove him or not. That investigation will take months, and any vote to remove White would not come until early next year, Mendelson said, meaning White can continue to vote on legislation in the meantime.

“However one feels about the indictment – and I certainly think the charges are very serious and damning – however one feels, the reality is that the voters elected him,” Mendelson said. “He is an elected member, and the only way to stop that is to expel him.”

“I’m relatively confident that the Council will dispose of this matter no later than the beginning of the new year,” he said.

White also will remain on the general election ballot in November.

On Monday, Mayor Muriel Bowser said she would not be endorsing any candidate in the Ward 8 race.

Tuesday morning will be the first D.C. Council meeting since White was arrested. It’s unknown if White will attend or vote on the fate of his committee chairmanship.

Here’s what federal prosecutors say Trayon White did

Federal prosecutors say White agreed starting in June to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees to extend violence intervention contracts worth $5.2 million.

He’s accused of accepting envelopes full of cash as he was caught on a hidden camera. Here’s how the FBI broke down the payments:

• June 26: $15,000 cash received
• July 17: $5,000 cash received
• July 25: $10,000 cash received
• Aug. 9: $5,000 cash received

Images included in court documents show what prosecutors say is White receiving envelopes stuffed with cash.

An FBI informant who operated businesses that contracted with the D.C. government agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of an agreement to plead guilty to bribery and bank fraud charges. Several conversations between White and the informant were recorded in a parked car wired for video and audio, including outside White’s home, prosecutors say.

At one meeting, White and the informant discussed contracts the informant had with ONSE. The informant asked White if the contracts would be renewed and said he had $15,000 cash.

Initially, White asked, “What you need me to do, man? I don’t, I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something. We better than that.”

Then he tucked the envelope with the cash into his jacket pocket, prosecutors say.

White is due back in court in mid November for a status hearing. A trial isn’t expected to begin until sometime next year.

News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.