DC Politico Caught Taking Envelopes Of Cash On Camera Gets Off With Mistrial

D.C. Councilman Trayon White Sr. will get another day in court after a federal jury failed to reach a verdict in his bribery case, despite prosecutors presenting secretly recorded video showing the politician accepting envelopes of cash from an FBI informant.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras declared a mistrial Monday morning after jurors spent more than three days deliberating and ultimately told the court that further discussions had only “cemented” their views.

White, a Democrat who represents Ward 8, remains under indictment. D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said prosecutors intend to try the case again. “We have video showing piles of cash being given to a D.C. councilmember as part of a $156,000 bribe,” Pirro said in a statement. “Rest assured that we will retry this case and every corruption case to verdict.”

The case centered on $35,000 in cash White accepted from D.C. contractor Allieu Kamara during a series of meetings in 2024. Kamara was working as a confidential FBI informant at the time, and the FBI secretly recorded the meetings. Prosecutors played roughly 87 minutes of footage for the jury showing White and Kamara discussing city contracts and White accepting envelopes of cash during four meetings. A fifth recording ended with White’s arrest outside his Navy Yard condominium.

In one of the recordings, White can be heard saying, “I don’t want to feel like you got to give me something to get something done, man,” while taking an envelope containing $15,000, according to prosecutors. Kamara testified that the payments were part of an agreement under which White would use his position to help Kamara’s companies renew millions of dollars in city contracts for violence-interruption services. Prosecutors said White was ultimately expected to receive $156,000, or 3% of the contracts.

White’s attorneys did not dispute that their client accepted the $35,000. Instead, they argued that White never intended to pressure city officials on Kamara’s behalf and therefore did not commit bribery. According to the Washington Post, defense attorney Gary Kohlman told jurors during closing arguments, “Trayon White actually did nothing.”

At one point, jurors asked Contreras, “Is it bribery if the defendant received money to perform an official act, but had no intention of fulfilling the agreement?” The judge told them it was not.

Three D.C. officials whom White told Kamara he was in contact with about the contracts testified that White never pressed them to renew the contractor’s agreements. Prosecutors, however, pointed to White’s recorded conversations with Kamara, including a discussion in which White said he would not support the full-time confirmation of a city official unless she supported his initiatives.

The prosecution’s star witness was Kamara, who had pleaded guilty to bribery and bank-fraud conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with the FBI. Defense attorneys attacked his credibility, arguing that he had strong incentives to help prosecutors after being caught in his own criminal conduct.

Agents equipped Kamara’s Cadillac Escalade with hidden recording equipment and supplied the cash used in the meetings, according to trial testimony.

White has maintained his innocence since his August 2024 arrest and argued that he was framed by an informant who had previously donated to his political campaigns.

After Monday’s mistrial, White celebrated the outcome while acknowledging that the case is not necessarily over. “Victory is mine, saith the Lord,” White said in a statement. “The jury was unable to reach a verdict, and the judge has declared a mistrial. I maintain my innocence.”

White also wrote that “the legal process is not over,” while saying his focus remains on serving Ward 8 residents. The case has already had political consequences for White. The D.C. Council voted 12-0 to expel him in February 2025, but White won his seat back in a special election later that year. He had remained barred from council committees and leadership positions while the case was pending.

Council member Elissa Silverman said the jury’s inability to reach a verdict should be respected, while also warning that the case had damaged public confidence in city government. “The legal standard of proof needed in court is not the threshold in the court of public opinion, however,” Silverman wrote. “We have to recognize the impact this case has had on the reputation of our government and the public’s trust in our actions.”

For now, White keeps his seat on the D.C. council and remains under federal indictment. His bribery case will continue unless prosecutors ultimately decide not to retry him.

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