
The Justice Department announced this week that it plans to retry a federal bribery case against Washington, D.C. Council member Trayon White, weeks after accusations that he accepted nearly $200,000 in bribes ended in a mistrial.
The FBI arrested White in 2024 on federal bribery charges, accusing him of accepting $156,000 in future kickbacks and $35,000 in cash to influence government contracts valued at $5.2 million. The case went to court this year, but a mistrial was declared in late September by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Nine of twelve jurors found him not guilty.