The cause of Councilmember Trayon White Sr.’s Sunday afternoon arrest in Washington, D.C., has been made public by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Fox News obtained a criminal complaint that charges White with bribery. According to a DOJ press release, the 40-year-old Ward 8 representative is the chair of the Council’s Committee on Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs, which has jurisdiction over multiple organizations, including the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS).
“The complaint alleges that, beginning in June 2024, White corruptly agreed to accept $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position as a D.C. councilmember to pressure government employees at Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and DYRS to extend several D.C. contracts,” the release stated.
Two organizations were awarded contracts for $5.2 million to provide violence intervention services in Washington, D.C.
“White’s agreement with a confidential human source (the owner of the companies) – including the source’s payments to White of $35,000 in cash on four separate occasions (June 26, July 17, July 25, and August 9, 2024) and the source showing White a document reflecting how White’s three-percent cut was calculated based on those contracts – was captured on video,” the DOJ stated.
According to court documents, White received gifts “corruptly” that included trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Dominican Republic.
In March 2018, White made waves across the country when he proposed that weather patterns are controlled by Jewish financiers. He made the accusation while filming a snow-covered drive through Washington’s downtown and ranting about “climate manipulation.”
“And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We’re 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,” he said in the video which has since been deleted. “Be careful.”
Since ancient times, antisemitic conspiracy theories have centered around the Rothschilds, a European Jewish banking dynasty descending from Mayer Amschel Rothschild. These theories claim that the Rothschilds control global financial institutions and influence events for their own financial gain.
“The video says what it says,” White first defended his remarks, but he later issued an apology to the Jewish community.
In 2018, White faced criticism after it surfaced that he had contributed $500 to a Nation of Islam conference in Chicago, where Louis Farrakhan had declared “powerful Jews” to be his adversary and made other derogatory remarks.
“I am not resigning, I’m not backing down, I’m not discouraged, I’m not depressed, so run all the media stories you want because my people are going to support me,” White said at the time when faced with criticism.
According to FOX 5 DC, White was freed on his own recognizance and under bond. According to the local TV station, he might spend up to three times the amount of the alleged bribe, receive up to a $250,000 fine, or spend up to 15 years in prison.
