A D.C. Council ad-hoc committee, established in the aftermath of D.C. Councilmember Trayon White’s arrest this summer, recently released the findings of an investigation they commissioned. While the investigation didn’t substantiate allegations of residency misrepresentation, a report compiled by Latham & Watkins LLP says that White violated the D.C. Code of Conduct, as it relates to his federal bribery charge.
This 11-week investigation took place as the ad-hoc committee determines whether to reprimand, censure or expel White. They’re expected to announce its decision on Mon., Dec. 16. D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (I-At large), ad-hoc committee chair, said White didn’t participate in the investigation, as requested.
“The committee has provided Councilmember Trayon White multiple opportunities to meet with the committee’s investigative team during the course of the investigation,” McDuffie said on Dec. 11.
“Following the release of the investigative report, the committee has shared the document with Councilmember White and offered, for the third time, an opportunity for him to meet with the committee prior to the committee meeting on Monday.”
In September, upon the council’s return from summer recess, and their formation of the ad-hoc committee, White lost stewardship of the council’s Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs.
Months later, White, a two-term council member, won re-election with more than half of the vote, even with write-in candidate opposition. As White prepares for another term, and a federal trial scheduled for early 2026, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) continues to support Kwelli D. Sneed as her choice for the executive director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE).
That agency, mentioned in a federal indictment against White, has been under scrutiny from D.C. Police Union President Greggory Pemberton among others critical of what they describe as corruption and fiscal mismanagement.
Latham & Watkins LLP, the outside counsel hired by the ad-hoc committee, said their investigation — which included analysis of White’s text messages, emails and calendar, and interviews with D.C. government employees, and current and former White council staffers — further supports the assertion that White violated the D.C. Code of Conduct.
“[S]eparate from the criminal case, our investigation has uncovered substantial evidence that Councilmember White proactively contacted both [Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services] and [Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement] officials within days of his meetings with [Confidential Human Source] 1,” page 35 of Latham & Watkins LLP’s report said.
“Our investigation further found that, during those conversations, Councilmember White explicitly inquired regarding grant awards and the status of [Confidential Human Source] 1’s organizations specifically.”
If convicted, White faces 15 years imprisonment. Earlier this year, he pleaded not guilty.
The ad-hoc committee’s work will soon culminate as Ward 2 D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto, chair of the council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, continues to conduct oversight of violence interruption programs and the Bowser administration, its own investigation into White’s alleged dealings with personnel in ONSE, DYRS, and the Executive Office of the Mayor.
In their investigation, Latham & Watkins LLC documented no evidence that, before July, White had inquired specifically about violence interruption grants and grantees to ONSE and DYRS.
However, with the help of the federal government’s documentation of meetings between White and the informant since identified as Allieu Kamara of nonprofit Life Deeds, LLC, Latham & Watkins established a timeline of White’s direct engagement with both agencies throughout July, when White allegedly accepted bribes from Kamara totaling $35,000.
Latham & Watkins said that White “sought and conducted” meetings with staff members about contracts for credible messenger and violence interruption programs. Page 31 of their report said that, in the middle of July, two DYRS employees directed White to a third employee with whom White then communicated with via email, text message, and phone call several times within a week.
Those meetings, the report said, aligned with a portion of a federal indictment that documents White’s report-back to Kamara about his conversations with a DYRS employee.
According to the report, White also called a DYRS official on July 17, inquiring about Credible Messenger grantees, including Life Deeds.
As it relates to ONSE, the report highlights White’s engagement with agency personnel, including one employee who was “confused” about White’s inquiries into Life Deeds, which had contracts in Wards 1 and 4.
In their report, Latham & Watkins LLP said that those interactions with ONSE, evidenced by text messages, an event on White’s calendar, and camera footage from ONSE’s Northeast location, coincide with payments that White, according to the federal indictment, allegedly from Kamara.
At the end of their report, Latham & Watkins LLP say that the investigation meets the legal standards for what’s considered “substantial evidence.”
“Given that the D.C. Council’s ultimate determination of whether sanctions are appropriate must be supported by substantial evidence—at least with respect to the sanctions of censure or expulsion—this investigation considered the evidence gathered in light of the substantial evidence standard,” the report said.
Latham & Watkins LLP collected more than 200,000 pages of materials, including documents provided by White council staffers and D.C. government officials.
They also sifted through White’s financial disclosures, tax records and property records.
Interviewees included ONSE and DYRS employees, former and current White council staffers, and employees of 10K Hill South Apartments, the Ward 6 residence where federal agents arrested White on Aug. 18. Latham & Watkins LLP said that the nine former and current White council staffers told investigators that, despite engaging DYRS and ONSE as part of their responsibilities, they didn’t recall having conversations with White about particular grants and grantees.
Other people who declined interviews include Kamara, a DYRS official, and a tenant of 10K Hill South Apartments.
In their report, Latham & Watkins LLP alluded to their efforts to enrich their investigation.
“Given the important Fifth Amendment and other legal considerations related to parallel criminal prosecutions, Latham concluded that attempting to compel testimony by issuing testimonial subpoenas to DYRS Official 6, Confidential Human Source 1, or Councilmember White would be an imprudent use of the Ad Hoc Committee’s subpoena authority and would ultimately have been ineffective.”
The Informer unsuccessfully attempted to gather comment from Ward 8 Council member White’s office about his alleged refusal to participate in the independent investigation.
