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Feds charge D.C. Councilmember Trayon White with bribery
Washington — Federal prosecutors on Monday charged Trayon White, a member of the D.C. City Council, with one count of bribery, alleging he agreed to accept over $150,000 in exchange for steering millions of dollars in potential government contracts.
White, who represents Ward 8 in Southeast D.C., was arrested by the FBI on Sunday. The FBI’s Washington Field Office declined to comment on his arrest. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced the charge against White on Monday.
According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, White used his position as the head of D.C.’s Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs to pressure city employees to extend government contracts worth $5.6 million to companies that work with high-risk youth and provide violence intervention services.
Investigators said the unnamed owner of the companies secretly recorded conversations he had with White between June and August when the two allegedly discussed the government deals. The company owner entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors and cooperated with the investigation against White.
The source paid White a total of $35,000 in cash over the course of four meetings, the affidavit said. The charging document included still images from the videos allegedly showing White accepting envelopes of cash:
Justice Department
In one of the alleged discussions, on July 17, the company owner-turned-government source proposed a 3% cut in the company’s contracts with the D.C. government. According to prosecutors, White appeared to agree to the deal. The conversation was also recorded, court documents said.
That same day, after discussing potential partnerships tied to the city’s mental health care services, prosecutors alleged the company owner “handed White an envelope with $5,000.” White allegedly responded that he could “start making some s*** happen.”
Text messages included in the affidavit further revealed White’s efforts to secure renewals of the company’s contract in exchange for thousands of dollars, asking the government source to bring $10,000 to a July 25 meeting where they allegedly discussed the unnamed D.C. government employees who were in charge of renewing the contracts.
“It’s [Government Employee 4] and another lady. So [Government Employee 4] got to work to massage her… [Government Employee 4] got to work to massage the other [person]. But I’m going to stay in communication with [Government Employee 4] because [Government Employee 4] definitely gonna be helpful. But I think that was a small, that was the smaller one of the two,” White allegedly told the company owner.
Prosecutors said they brought the charges now to reveal the alleged wrongdoing before the contracts are finalized.
“Because the investigation into the alleged bribery scheme involved contracts that could soon be awarded and other potential official acts that could be taken, our Office took swift steps to address the alleged crimes we were investigating,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said.
An attorney for White did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
A 40-year-old Washington native, White has served on the D.C. Council since 2017. He made headlines in 2018 when he endorsed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories positing that the Rothschild family controls the climate and World Bank. He later apologized to the Jewish community for his comments.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.