DC Councilmember Trayon White faces expulsion hearing over federal bribery charge
The Washington D.C. councilmember accused by federal authorities of accepting $156,000 in bribes is facing an expulsion hearing Tuesday.
The legislative body "will hold a Public Hearing on the following Matter: Expulsion of Councilmember Trayon White, Sr. for Code of Conduct Violations" starting at noon local time, it says on its website.
Last month, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie said an investigative report found "substantial evidence" that White's alleged conduct connected to the bribery claims violated several provisions of the D.C. Council's Code of Official Conduct, FOX 5 DC reported.
The Justice Department, citing a criminal complaint charging White with bribery, alleges that "beginning in June 2024, White corruptly agreed to accept $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position as a D.C. Councilmember to pressure government employees at [the] Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and [the] D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to extend several D.C. contracts."
Dc Councilman A Step Closer To Facing Expulsion After Law Firm Finds He Violated Code Of Conduct
White, who has pleaded not guilty to those allegations, reportedly faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted. A jury trial in that case is set for January 2026.
Read On The Fox News App
In November, he easily won re-election to his seat.
"I feel confident that the people of Ward 8 have spoken. I feel like I'm going to win by a landslide but I'm still humbled and prayerful. I hope [it] sends a loud message to the DC Council about keeping the decisions in the hands of the people." White told WJLA on Election Day.
Dc Councilmember Facing Federal Bribery Charges Wins Landslide Re-election
At today's hearing, White will hear evidence against him and have an opportunity to defend himself, according to WTOP.
"White may be represented by a person of his choice, whether or not the person is an attorney, and may have that representative speak or question witnesses on his behalf," the station cited D.C. Council documents as saying.
For White to be expelled, 11 of the council's 13 members would need to vote in favor of doing so, WTOP added.
The station said that the vote is set for Tuesday, Feb. 4.Original article source: DC Councilmember Trayon White faces expulsion hearing over federal bribery charge
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
U.N. food agency appeals for $46 million to help 2 million Haitians facing severe hunger
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. food agency is appealing for $46 million for the next six months to help about 2 million Haitians in dire need of food, including 8,500 at the worst catastrophic level of hunger. The appeal was issued by Lola Castro, the World Food Program's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, who recently returned from Haiti, where escalating gang violence has displaced well over 1 million people and left half the population — 5.7 million people — in urgent need of food. Two million of them are in the two worst categories in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading international authority on hunger crises, and 8,500 are in the worst Phase 5 category, she said. That means at least one in five people or households severely lack food and face starvation and destitution. Haiti is one of only five countries in the world that have people in the Phase 5 category of catastrophic hunger, Castro said, 'and it is really dramatic to have this in the Western Hemisphere.' Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and are now estimated to control 85% of the capital and are moving into surrounding areas. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination, and the top U.N. official in the country said in April the country could face 'total chaos' without funding to confront the gangs.. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 40% of the 2,500 personnel originally envisioned. The WFP, the world's largest humanitarian organization, is among the U.N. agencies facing funding cuts, mainly from the United States, which provided nearly half of its funding in 2024. Castro said WFP reached over 1.3 million people this year until March using carryover funds from last year. But the agency is facing a dramatic situation now with food stocks only until July to assist with emergencies, new displacements or hurricanes, she said. In the past four years, Castro said WFP always had stocks to help between 250,000 and 500,000 people with any emergency. 'This year, we start the hurricane season with an empty warehouse where we have no stocks for assisting any emergency, or we have no cash neither to go and buy (food) locally if it was possible in some areas, or to do a rapid humanitarian response,' Castro said. 'We are very concerned that a single storm can put hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti again into humanitarian catastrophe and hunger.' WFP normally provides a meal every day for around 500,000 school children, but that number will be cut in half without additional resources, she told a video press conference on Tuesday. With $46 million, she said, WFP will be able to help the 2 million Haitians in most need of food, keep providing school meals for half a million children, and provide social protection for very vulnerable people in camps for the displaced. Haiti must not be forgotten as the world deals with other crises, Castro said, urging donors to be generous. 'We really need to stop this and to hold the line on hunger,' she said. 'We continue calling the humanitarian community to provide support.' With $46 million, she said, WFP will be able to help the 2 million Haitians in the two worst IPC categories, keep providing school meals for half a million children, and provide social protection for very vulnerable people in camps for the displaced. Lederer writes for the Associated Press.
2 hours ago
UN food agency appeals for $46 million to help 2 million Haitians facing severe hunger
UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. food agency is appealing for $46 million for the next six months to help about 2 million Haitians in dire need of food, including 8,500 at the worst catastrophic level of hunger. The appeal was issued by Lola Castro, the World Food Program's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, who recently returned from Haiti, where escalating gang violence has displaced well over 1 million people and left half the population — 5.7 million people — in urgent need of food. Two million of them are in the two worst categories in the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the leading international authority on hunger crises, and 8,500 are in the worst Phase 5 category, she said. That means at least one in five people or households severely lack food and face starvation and destitution. Haiti is one of only five countries in the world that have people in the Phase 5 category of catastrophic hunger, Castro said, 'and it is really dramatic to have this in the Western Hemisphere.' Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 and are now estimated to control 85% of the capital and are moving into surrounding areas. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination, and the top U.N. official in the country said in April the country could face 'total chaos' without funding to confront the gangs.. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to help quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and underfunded, with only about 40% of the 2,500 personnel originally envisioned. The WFP, the world's largest humanitarian organization, is among the U.N. agencies facing funding cuts, mainly from the United States, which provided nearly half of its funding in 2024. Castro said WFP reached over 1.3 million people this year until March using carryover funds from last year. But the agency is facing a dramatic situation now with food stocks only until July to assist with emergencies, new displacements or hurricanes, she said. In the past four years, Castro said WFP always had stocks to help between 250,000 and 500,000 people with any emergency. 'This year, we start the hurricane season with an empty warehouse where we have no stocks for assisting any emergency, or we have no cash neither to go and buy (food) locally if it was possible in some areas, or to do a rapid humanitarian response,' Castro said. 'We are very concerned that a single storm can put hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti again into humanitarian catastrophe and hunger.' WFP normally provides a meal every day for around 500,000 school children, but that number will be cut in half without additional resources, she told a video press conference on Tuesday. With $46 million, she said, WFP will be able to help the 2 million Haitians in most need of food, keep providing school meals for half a million children, and provide social protection for very vulnerable people in camps for the displaced. Haiti must not be forgotten as the world deals with other crises, Castro said, urging donors to be generous. 'We really need to stop this and to hold the line on hunger,' she said. 'We continue calling the humanitarian community to provide support.' With $46 million, she said, WFP will be able to help the 2 million Haitians in the two worst IPC categories, keep providing school meals for half a million children, and provide social protection for very vulnerable people in camps for the displaced.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
BREAKING: Supreme Court sides with straight woman in so-called 'reverse discrimination' case
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with an Ohio woman on Thursday who claimed she was discriminated against for being straight. She said her gay boss didn't promote her. The ruling in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services will now allow similar suits to be brought in the U.S., making it easier for members of majority groups to claim job discrimination over their identity. Marlean Ames brought the case. Ames, a straight former Ohio Department of Youth Services (the state's juvenile justice department) employee Ames alleged that she was denied a promotion and later removed from her position while less qualified queer employees were given the roles she sought. At issue was whether so-called majority-group plaintiffs — such as heterosexual employees alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation or white employees claiming they were discriminated against because of their race — must meet a higher evidentiary standard than other plaintiffs in discrimination cases. Related: That standard has been used in about half of the federal court circuits in the U.S., according to the New York Times. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote the opinion for the court. Jackson wrote that the court's case law "makes clear that the standard for proving disparate treatment under Title VII does not vary based on whether or not the plaintiff is a member of a majority group. ... The 'background circumstances' rule flouts that basic principle." 'Congress left no room for courts to impose special requirements on majority-group plaintiffs alone,' Jackson also wrote in the opinion. In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas — joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch — wrote that the higher standard was "judge-made." "Courts with this rule have enshrined into Title VII's anti-discrimination law an explicitly race-based preference: White plaintiffs must prove the existence of background circumstances, while nonwhite plaintiffs need not do so," he wrote. He added that the court's decision Thursday, "obviates the need for courts to engage in the 'sordid business'" of dividing people by their race or other identity. The Human Rights Campaign in a statement emphasized the need for civil rights laws. 'Our civil rights laws must protect all people from unlawful discrimination—whether based on race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics,' said Cathryn Oakley, the organization's senior director of legal policy. 'Today's unanimous decision, written by Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson, emphasizes the ongoing importance of federal civil rights laws. It also comes as we're witnessing an alarming wave of political attacks targeting LGBTQ+ people across the country, the weaponization of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and unprecedented hostility within parts of the federal government toward our community. LGBTQ+ people, in particular, face heightened and increasingly dangerous forms of discrimination — and too often, fewer paths to remedy it. This ruling must be understood in the context of that rising tide. Fighting discrimination is not just about one case or one person — it's about defending the broader promise of equality and justice for all.' Allen Morris, policy dreictor at the National LGBTQ Task Force, said the decision "underscores the need for congressional action, and the prioritization of federal non-discrimination protections." Morris also noted that the primary target of employment discrimination is still people "with intersecting needs." "This moment must also be met with clarity and urgency: underserved communities continue to face a systemically challenged and unleveled playing field in workspaces, schools and public life," Morris said. "Nearly 1 in 2 transgender people report experiencing mistreatment in the workforce. We must not excuse or dismiss the lived realities of communities who are fighting to be treated with dignity and fairness. Congress must act to pass comprehensive, explicit federal non-discrimination protections, including the long-overdue Equality Act."
