Trayon White won re-election to the D.C. Council. What’s next?

D.C. Councilmember Trayon White will continue to represent District 8 after a decisive election victory Tuesday night. His victory, earned less than three months after he was arrested by the FBI and accused of bribery related to his activities on the Council raises questions. White has pleaded not guilty, but now that he’s back in office for another four-year term, what happens if he’s found guilty?

White is expected to appear in court Nov. 13 for a status hearing. He will be represented by federal public defenders after shakeup in the defense team late last month. But the path to a final verdict may be long.

What will it take to convict White?

Randall Eliason spent eight years in the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, serving as Division Chief from 1999 to 2001. He now teaches a course on white collar crime at George Washington University. Faculty of Law of the University. Washington asked him to help solve the FBI case against White.

Simply put, the federal government is “alleging that (White) took something of value—in this case, money—in exchange for exercising his official authority in some way to benefit the briber,” Eliason says, calling White a “classic criminal.” white collar crime case. Prosecutors allege White took money from a confidential informant and agreed that in return he would pressure various government agencies to renew contracts. According to Eliason, “the evidence that he actually took money from this guy would be pretty strong,” as the indictment includes photos of White allegedly accepting payment from the informant and screenshots of WhatsApp conversations between the two.

So the prosecution’s claim that White received a bribe “won’t necessarily be challenged,” Eliason says. “That’s true in a lot of white-collar cases because you have a paper trail.” However, White’s receipt of money from an informant is not enough to charge him with bribery.

Eliason expects the precedent set by the 2016 Supreme Court case to be established. McDonnell v. USA be significant to the outcome of White’s trial. That verdict, in favor of the defendant, former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, “narrowed federal bribery laws, including this one, and said the government must prove that what the official did in exchange for the bribe was… quote, end quotes”. — “an official act,” according to Eliason.

Per McDonnell, arranging meetings, talking to co-workers and other “routine actions that a public official might take” do not qualify as official actions, Eliason says. “To be an official act, it must be something in which a public official actually acts or makes a decision on some specific matter or issue that is before him and which he has the authority to decide.” This could include, for example, giving a grant or pressuring another elected official to promote a particular agenda.

The prosecution’s evidence that White performed an official act in exchange for a bribe “is not compelling,” Eliason said. One of the allegations in the indictment that sticks out to him is that White told “Public Official 3” (a senior official in the D.C. Office of Public Safety and Engagement) that he would not support their permanent appointment to his job if they will not approve of the contract between the whistleblower’s company and ONSE.

“This has the potential to become an official act because it now effectively puts pressure on the person who has that authority to make a decision to enter into a contract in a certain way,” Eliason said. But he’s skeptical that other actions cited in the indictment – such as White’s claim that he “talked” with ONSE and D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation officials about informant contracts – will be criticized.

“Not everything that is wrong or corrupt is actually criminal,” Eliason says. “And I think the question of whether they can prove official action is likely to be the key issue in this case.”

What’s next for Ward 8?

As an incumbent Democrat running for county president in a presidential election year, White’s victory was more or less inevitable—he ultimately received about 84 percent of the vote in his race against Republican challenger Nate Durenge. “Because of this, not a lot of energy was spent on finding someone to oppose him this time,” says Washington City Newspaper political reporter Alex Koma.

While White’s trial continues, pressure is mounting on the Council to remove him as quickly as possible. Come said, “The council is realistic that they wouldn’t have to take a vote to oust him,” given White’s enthusiastic support among some Ward 8 residents. “I think if they were forced to, they would do it sometime in January or February,” Koma says.

If White is removed from the Council, a number of political figures from the 8th District could seek his seat. Salim Adofo, a representative of Advisory District Commission 8C, and Rahman Branch, former executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Black Affairs, both ran against White in the D.C. Council primary earlier this year. “They benefit from having their names and faces on campaign posters and mailers,” Koma says.

If District 8 does find itself in need of new representation on the Council, Koma says he wouldn’t discount a crowded race to fill it. “There hasn’t been an open race since 2014—without an incumbent—and whenever that happens, it dampens interest because a lot of good Democrats don’t want to run another Democrat’s primary,” especially when that president’s fan base is just as strong, like White’s. “All those people who were nervously hoping that he would decide to leave, now they have a window.”