Trayon White Re-Elected to DC Council. What’s Next?

D.C. Councilman Trayon White will continue to represent Ward 8 following a decisive victory in Tuesday night’s election. His victory came less than three months after his arrest by the FBI. accused of bribery It raises questions about his relationships on the Council. White has pleaded not guilty, but now that he’s back in office for another four-year term, what happens if he’s found guilty?

White is expected to appear in court Nov. 13 for a status hearing. He will eventually be represented by federal public defenders. change in defense team late last month. But the road to the final decision may be long.

What would it take to convict White?

Randall Eliason worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in the Public Corruption and Government Fraud section for eight years, serving as the division’s chief from 1999 to 2001. Now he teaches a lecture on white collar crime at George Washington. University Faculty of Law. Washingtonian He asked for his help in busting the FBI’s case against White.

Simply put, “the federal government’s claim is that (White) received something of value (in this case, cash) in exchange for exercising his official powers in some way for the benefit of the bribe-payer,” Eliason says, calling White a “classic.” white-collar crime case.” Prosecutors said White admitted he received money from a confidential informant and in return would pressure various government agencies to extend contracts. According to Eliason, “the evidence that she actually received money from this man will be pretty strong” because the indictment includes photos of White allegedly accepting payment from the informant and screenshots of WhatsApp conversations between the two.

Therefore, the prosecution’s claim that White received bribe money “would not necessarily be in dispute,” Eliason says. “That’s true of a lot of white-collar cases, because you have the paper trail.” But, The fact that White received money from the informant is not enough to convict him of bribery.

Eliason expects 2016 Supreme Court case to set precedent McDonnell v. United States It will have a heavy impact on the outcome of White’s case. That ruling, in favor of defendant former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, “narrowed federal bribery laws, including this one, and said the government must prove that what the official did in exchange for the bribe was, quote, unquote.” —’official law'” in Eliason’s words.

Per McDonnell, Holding a meeting, talking to colleagues and “other routine actions an official might take” do not qualify as official action, Eliason says. “To be an official action, it must be something in which the public official actually acts or decides on a particular question or matter that comes before him that he has the authority to resolve.” This might involve, for example, securing a grant or pressuring another elected official to advance a particular agenda.

Eliason says the prosecution’s evidence that White took official action in exchange for bribes is “not very strong.” One of the allegations against him in the indictment is that White told “Public Employee 3” (a senior official in D.C.’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement) that he would not support permanent appointments to their jobs if they did not approve. a contract between the whistleblower’s company and ONSE.

According to Eliason, “This has the potential to be a formal action, because it’s actually putting pressure on the person who has that power now to decide the contract in a certain way.” But it’s doubtful that other conduct cited in the indictment — such as White’s statement that he “talked” to representatives from ONSE and the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services about informant contracts — will be met.

“Not everything that is wrong or corrupt is actually a crime,” says Eliason. “And I think the question of whether they can prove official acts will probably become the most important issue in this case.”

What’s next for Ward 8?

As an incumbent Democrat running for office in the District during a presidential election year, White’s victory was more or less inevitable; he ultimately won nearly 84 percent of the vote in his race against Republican challenger Nate Derenge. “So there wasn’t a lot of energy spent trying to find someone who could run against him this time,” he says Washington City Gazette political reporter Alex Koma.

Although White’s legal proceedings are ongoing, there is increasing pressure on the Council to remove him as soon as possible. According to Koma, given White’s enthusiastic support from Ward 8 residents, “the Council is realistic that they would prefer not to have to vote to fire him.” “I think they’ll do it in January or February if they have to,” says Koma.

If White is removed from the Council, some political figures from Ward 8 could enter the race to replace him. Neighborhood Advisory Commission 8C representative Salim Adofo and Rahman Branch, former executive director of the mayor’s Office of African American Affairs, challenged White in the D.C. Council primaries earlier this year. “They benefit from having their names and faces on campaign signs and mailers,” Koma says.

Koma says if Ward 8 needs new representation on the Council, he won’t count on a crowded race to fill it. “Since 2014, there hasn’t been an open seat race without an incumbent in the seat, and whenever that happens, it adds to the interest because a lot of good Democrats don’t want to put another Democrat in the spotlight.” According to Koma, the incumbent’s fan base is as strong as White’s. “All these people who were anxiously hoping he would decide to walk away now have a window.”