A Washington DC councilman has been arrested for allegedly accepting $150,000 in bribes.
Trayon White Sr., a Democrat who ran an unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2022, is accused of using his elected office to help businesses with city contracts.
The FBI arrested White, 40, on federal bribery charges on Sunday. He is expected to make his initial court appearance on Monday.
White was previously known for promoting unhinged anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
An FBI agent’s affidavit says White agreed in June to accept about $156,000 in bribes and cash payments in exchange for pressuring government agency employees to extend contracts with two companies for violence intervention services.
Trayon White Sr., a Democrat who ran an unsuccessful mayoral campaign in 2022, is accused of using his elected office to help businesses with city contracts.
The contacts were worth more than $5 million.
White also accepted a $20,000 bribe to help resolve a contract dispute for one of the companies by lobbying high-level district officials, the affidavit alleges.
An FBI informant who has agreed to plead guilty to fraud and bribery charges reported giving White gifts, including trips to the Dominican Republic and Las Vegas, in addition to paying him bribes, the FBI said.
White, who has served on the D.C. Council since 2017, represents a predominantly Black neighborhood where the poverty rate is nearly double that of the district as a whole.
He will run for re-election in November against a Republican opponent.
White’s chief of staff and communications director did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The councillor is also known for causing a firestorm in March 2018 when he posted a short video on his Facebook page claiming that unexpected snowfall was due to “the Rothschilds controlling the weather to create natural disasters.”
Other council members and Jewish community leaders accused White of spreading an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about Jewish control of world events.
The Rothschilds, a prominent Jewish family whose banking dynasty dates back to the 18th century, are a frequent target of global conspiracy theories.
White later apologized for the comment.
He initially expressed surprise that some interpreted his comments as anti-Semitic, telling The Post: “The video says what it says.”
But in the wake of the controversy, White said he had reached out to his “friends” at Jews United for Justice, who helped him “understand the history of comments made against Jews.”
White then attempted to reconcile with the Jewish community with a visit to the Holocaust Museum, but this ended in disaster when he began defending the Nazis during the 90-minute guided tour of the institution.
Looking at a 1935 photograph of a woman surrounded by Nazi soldiers with a sign hanging around her neck that read, “I am a German girl and I let myself be defiled by a Jew,” White asked, “Are they protecting her?”
“No,” the guide told White, according to the Washington Post. He added: “They’re taking it at a steady pace.”
“To march is to protect,” White said.
“I think they are humiliating her,” the guide replied.
To make matters worse, White left early and texted Rabbi Batya Glazer, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, who was also present, telling him he was expected at a meeting.
However, White was seen walking aimlessly outside the museum.
