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Trayon White’s Lawyer Questions D.C. Council’s Authority at Expulsion Hearing

Trayon White stands in front of the Anacostia Playhouse  in Ward 8, which he represents on D.C. Council. (Photo:  Street Sense Media/Flickr)

By Asia Alexander, Christion Billy and Jordan Jarrett

Howard University News Service

The lawyer representing Ward 8 council member Trayon White at a public hearing on Tuesday claims that the D.C. Council lacks the authority to consider expulsion, because of “procedural deficiencies and defects.”

White, who was recently re-elected, is facing federal bribery charges after being accused of accepting thousands of dollars in kickbacks to assist an organization in obtaining government contracts. Although he has pleaded not guilty, the allegations have raised serious concerns among council members and residents. D.C. Council has scheduled a vote on White’s possible expulsion at its next legislative meeting on Tuesday, Feb.  4.

“This matter should be dismissed and put on a proper track,” Fred D. Cooke Jr., White’s attorney said. Cooke added that the council is acting “as judge and jury” by not following its own policies as well as established legal procedures for District of Columbia officials accused of ethical violations.

Following White’s arrest on federal bribery charges last summer, an ad hoc council committee conducted an independent investigation into his actions. Tuesday’s expulsion hearing provided him a platform to address the committee’s claims that he violated council code and city laws — but he did not. Cooke spoke on his behalf during the hearing, which was open to the public to attend but not to speak.

At the start of White’s new term, he apologized during his swearing-in ceremony, speaking publicly for the first time since being charged. 

“This morning I want to say that I apologize to my city, and I love my city to the core of who I am,” said White, whose federal bribery trial is scheduled for January 2026. “I’m not a perfect man, but if you get to know me, you know that I’m a good man.”

An investigative report commissioned by the committee found substantial evidence suggesting that White violated city law. While independent of the ongoing criminal case, the report partially referenced the indictment against him.

The committee was tasked with determining whether White violated the D.C. Council Code of Conduct and residency requirements, which White denied through his attorney. Investigators found no sufficient evidence that he violated residency rules. However, they concluded he breached the Code of Conduct, citing the following findings:

  • Accepted $35,000 in cash from an FBI confidential informant.
  • Was aware at the time that the informant owned or was affiliated with businesses seeking or holding D.C. government contracts or subcontracts.
  • Took the money in exchange for agreeing to meet with and influence government officials to secure contract renewals for the informant’s organizations.
  • Reviewed a profit ledger detailing expected earnings, including a 3% cut for grant renewals he helped facilitate.
  • Confirmed he contacted government employees about contract renewals and discussed contracts in which the informant had a direct financial interest.
  • Held meetings with officials from the Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) and the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) just days after meeting with the informant and affirmed to the informant that those discussions had taken place.
  • Specifically discussed contract-related matters with DYRS and ONSE officials that were relevant to the informant’s business interests.
Ward 8 council member Trayon White faces his peers at an expulsion hearing with attorney Fred D. Cooke Jr., who spoke on his behalf. (Photo: D.C. Council)

“Conducting an investigation into a colleague accused of wrongdoing is one of the more solemn duties of the council, but it is appropriate and necessary responsibility placed on this body by the Home Rule Act,” said Kenyan McDuffie, the council’s chair pro tempore and ad hoc committee chair.

“We not only as individuals but as a collective must ensure that all who serve on this body uphold the public trust,” McDuffie added. “When that trust is broken, we cannot leave disciplinary action to some other body. We must act.”

Taking the floor for several minutes, Cooke presented what many viewed as a compelling argument, challenging both the timing of the expulsion resolution and the council’s legal authority to carry out such a measure. As key points of contention, he referenced the Home Rule Act and the 2011 Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA) Ethics Reform Amendment Act.

“Nowhere in the D.C. code is the council given any authority whatsoever to administer, enforce, investigate or adjudicate violations of the Code of Conduct,” Cooke said.

Attorney Fred D. Cooke Jr. challenges D.C. Council’s procedures at expulsion hearing for Trayon White. (Photo: D.C. Council)

“The council cannot effectively amend the charter by circumscribing the jurisdiction of the D.C. courts and saying, ‘You can’t go to court to complain about what we’ve done,’” Cooke added. “If the council decided to have this hearing in a dark closet and have no record of it and no appeal of it, how is that fair?”

Cooke pushed back against the “charges and specifications” brought against White by the council’s ad hoc committee. In his remarks, he pointed out that the committee introduced the expulsion resolution near the close of Council Period 25. Procedures in place at the time required actions to be completed by the end of the period. If the actions have lapsed, they must be reintroduced in the next period.

Cooke further contended that while the council is set to vote on the measure next Tuesday, procedural changes implemented at the start of the new period should prevent it from moving forward with the decision. “It cannot reach back and reverse a lapsed measure,” he said.

If the council moves forward with expulsion, it would mark the first time in D.C.’s home rule history that a sitting council member has been formally removed.

In 2020, Jack Evans, a 29-year council member, resigned before he was officially removed from the council. The council unanimously voted 12-0 to recommend his expulsion. Evans faced corruption charges and was accused of breaking 11 ethical violations. He shortly ran again for the Ward 2 seat after council attempted to remove him, but he lost — receiving only 3.4% of votes.

Cooke said that D.C. Council acted properly in waiting for BEGA’s actions on ethics cases involving Evans as well as former Ward 8 council member and four-time mayor Marion Barry, whom he represented on numerous occasions. 

For some Ward 8 residents, Trayon White’s ethics case is a sense of déjà vu. In 2013, for example, BEGA censured Barry and fined him $13,600, twice the amount of gifts from “prohibited sources.” D.C. Council also voted to censure Barry, as it had in 2010, stripping him of committee chairmanships, but not removing him from his Ward 8 seat for ethics violations, including improper use of city funds and contracts. 

A civil rights activist, Barry became an at-large member of the first D.C. Council in 1975. He won the first of three mayor terms in 1979, but in 1990 he was charged with misdemeanor drug offenses and sentenced to six months in prison. 

He ran for Ward 8 council member in 1992 and for mayor again in 1994. After two more mayoral terms, Barry declined to run for a fifth term and returned as Ward 8’s council member from 2004 to 2014. The “mayor for life” died from cancer at age 78 on Nov. 23, 2014.

Trayon White lost by fewer than 80 votes in his 2015 bid to finish out his political idol’s term. White won in 2016 and has represented Ward 8 since then.

“Ward 8 residents are feeling very anxious about the outcome of this hearing in terms of what the council will do or not do on Tuesday,” said Troy Danté Preswood, a former ANC commissioner who has served as president of the Ward 8 Democrats for five years. “Most residents that I’ve spoken with want clarity. They want to know who their councillor is going to be.” 

Asia Alexander covers Ward 8 for HUNewsService.com. Christion Billy and Jordan Jarrett cover D.C. Council.