Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White
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Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White surely has bigger fish to fry at the moment, but the fact remains: His reelection campaign is, once again, deep in debt. This time around, White himself is one of the creditors.
White’s 2024 campaign committee reported $29,680 in outstanding payments to vendors and consultants on its most recent disclosure forms, filed earlier this month. And that does not include the $13,300 that White reported loaning to the campaign across six payments in June and July. The campaign largely used those funds to cover some of its other expenses.
For a councilmember who allegedly told an FBI informant that he’s “hurting” for money while soliciting $156,000 in bribes and kickbacks, those payments will undoubtedly raise eyebrows, as will their timing.
White made the first $8,800 in loans on June 11. Federal prosecutors claim he accepted a $15,000 bribe from their informant on June 26. He made another $500 loan to his campaign on July 8; prosecutors say he met with the informant on July 17, where he said he “needed money” and pocketed another $5,000. On July 23, White loaned the campaign another $1,500; the FBI claims he was badgering their informant about another meeting at this time, and secured another $10,000 payment on July 25. Four days later, White reported a $2,500 loan to the campaign.
Most Ward 8 politicos consider White a shoo-in to win reelection, even with these allegations dogging him, but a hobbled campaign surely won’t help him stave off the pack of write-in candidates angling to unseat him. And Loose Lips is it a bit confounded that he managed to blow so much money on a primary campaign that never looked all that competitive. White reported raising nearly $76,700 in the three months before the June election, and spent all but $1,200 of it. He then reported another $15,400 in spending between June and August, largely funded by his personal loans. White went on to win the primary by 24 points.
White’s attorney, the politically connected Fred Cooke Jr., did not respond to a request for comment. Cooke spent months representing White in the ongoing fight over his previous campaigns’ finances before also stepping up to serve as his criminal defense attorney.
Those other assorted fines and penalties remain up in the air. The D.C. Office of Campaign Finance has been pursuing a combined $38,600 in fines against White’s various committees and is seeking the return of another $59,000 in public funding he received for his failed mayoral bid. (White also closed his publicly funded 2024 Council campaign in the red after the office wouldn’t let him pursue matching public funds via the Fair Elections Program as a result of these mounting financial issues.)
Cooke previously told reporters that he was negotiating some sort of settlement with OCF; an OCF spokesperson said Cooke requested a hearing with the Board of Elections over the first, $20,000 fine the office issued against White, which is still pending. The spokesperson added that a second, $18,100 fine went unchallenged after 15 days, which means White has missed the window to appeal it.
White initially blamed many of these problems on his 2020 campaign treasurer, Cornelia Harris, and even went so far as to file a lawsuit against her. A D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed the case in April after neither party showed up for a scheduled hearing on the matter.
Plainly, these campaign finance irregularities are not the gravest allegations facing White these days. But LL would submit that they are not irrelevant to the Council’s current work investigating the Ward 8 councilmember. A new ad hoc committee was set up to consider sanctions against him that could include expulsion from the Council.
Should a councilmember accused of such serious misconduct get any benefit of the doubt when he’s shown a pretty blatant disregard for the rules governing how political candidates raise and spend money? The body is also set to consider questions about whether White really lives in Ward 8 after he was arrested outside a Navy Yard apartment in Ward 6, and it’s worth noting that his campaign also reported some financial transactions with a bank just around the corner from that building.
So far, it appears unlikely that White will find too many defenders on the Council. A Ward 8 community meeting attended by several councilmembers Tuesday night focused more on how White might be removed from the body rather than whether he should get another chance.
“It is a more political proceeding than a legal proceeding,” said Council Chair Phil Mendelson, noting that a vote to expel White could take place as soon as mid-January. “We don’t need proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”