Democratic DC councilman arrested, accused of $156,000 bribery scheme
Washington, D.C., Councilmember Trayon White Sr. was recently arrested for allegedly facilitating a $156,000 bribery scheme. White, a Democrat, has been representing D.C.’s Ward 8 since 2017, and he recently won the Democratic primary in June.White is accused of using his position in office to pressure government employees to extend contracts in exchange for cash payments, the Department of Justice announced Monday.‘What you need me to do, man?’A criminal complaint revealed that White was charged with bribery for allegedly accepting money and other items of value in return for using his position to pressure employees at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to extend several contracts valued at $5.2 million.Since June, White has allegedly received four payments totaling $156,000 from the owner of two unnamed companies. According to the complaint, an arrangement between White and the contractor was caught on video. White allegedly accepted $35,000 from the company while it was “working covertly under the auspices of the FBI.”According to the affidavit, video footage captured White asking the contractor, “What you need me to do, man?”“I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something,” White continued before taking an envelope of money from the contractor, according to the filing. “We better than that.”The affidavit claimed that the contractor agreed to give White a 3% cut of the government contracts he helped to extend.A spokesperson for the D.C. city council told NBC News that White was arrested around 2 p.m. on Sunday. He was released from custody the following day after his court appearance. His next court date is slated for September 19. The spokesperson noted that the council was unaware of the investigation ahead of White’s arrest, the news outlet reported.U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves stated, “Because the investigation into the alleged bribery scheme involved contracts that could soon be awarded and other potential official acts that could be taken, our Office took swift steps to address the alleged crimes we were investigating.”A spokesperson for White did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News. White’s attorney declined to comment, the Washington Post reported.Earlier this year, White’s campaign committees were hit with a $40,000 fine from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance for allegedly failing to provide requested documents to rectify expenditure and contribution discrepancies. A spokesperson for White’s office stated that the councilman appealed the fines, the Post reported.White previously garnered national attention in 2018 when he was accused of spreading an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory when mentioning the Rothschilds in a video he posted on social media.In the video, White said, “Man, it just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man. Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation. And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We a resilient city.’ And that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Washington, D.C., Councilmember Trayon White Sr. was recently arrested for allegedly facilitating a $156,000 bribery scheme. White, a Democrat, has been representing D.C.’s Ward 8 since 2017, and he recently won the Democratic primary in June.
White is accused of using his position in office to pressure government employees to extend contracts in exchange for cash payments, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
‘What you need me to do, man?’
A criminal complaint revealed that White was charged with bribery for allegedly accepting money and other items of value in return for using his position to pressure employees at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to extend several contracts valued at $5.2 million.
Since June, White has allegedly received four payments totaling $156,000 from the owner of two unnamed companies. According to the complaint, an arrangement between White and the contractor was caught on video. White allegedly accepted $35,000 from the company while it was “working covertly under the auspices of the FBI.”
According to the affidavit, video footage captured White asking the contractor, “What you need me to do, man?”
“I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something,” White continued before taking an envelope of money from the contractor, according to the filing. “We better than that.”
The affidavit claimed that the contractor agreed to give White a 3% cut of the government contracts he helped to extend.
A spokesperson for the D.C. city council told NBC News that White was arrested around 2 p.m. on Sunday. He was released from custody the following day after his court appearance. His next court date is slated for September 19. The spokesperson noted that the council was unaware of the investigation ahead of White’s arrest, the news outlet reported.
U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves stated, “Because the investigation into the alleged bribery scheme involved contracts that could soon be awarded and other potential official acts that could be taken, our Office took swift steps to address the alleged crimes we were investigating.”
A spokesperson for White did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News. White’s attorney declined to comment, the Washington Post reported.
Earlier this year, White’s campaign committees were hit with a $40,000 fine from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance for allegedly failing to provide requested documents to rectify expenditure and contribution discrepancies. A spokesperson for White’s office stated that the councilman appealed the fines, the Post reported.
White previously garnered national attention in 2018 when he was accused of spreading an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory when mentioning the Rothschilds in a video he posted on social media.
In the video, White said, “Man, it just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man. Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation. And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We a resilient city.’ And that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful.”
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Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
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