Defence lawyers sought to undermine the credibility of a key FBI witness on Thursday as Washington DC councilman Trayon White’s federal bribery trial entered its third day.
Allieu Kamara, who was working with investigators when he allegedly handed White an envelope containing $15,000, returned to the witness box in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
White, who has denied the allegation, is charged with accepting cash in return for using his position to help a businessman secure lucrative city contracts. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Defence challenges FBI witness in Trayon White trial
Prosecutors questioned Kamara about the cooperation agreement he reached with the FBI while facing separate allegations that he stole money from a Covid-19 Paycheck Protection Programme scheme.
Kamara told the court that he agreed to assist investigators in the hope of receiving a more lenient sentence. He said the arrangement depended on him telling the truth, rather than on whether White was ultimately found guilty or acquitted.
Prosecutors allege that White received $35,000 from Kamara and stood to earn as much as $156,000 under a proposed agreement linked to government contracts.
During cross-examination, defence attorney Gary Kohlman questioned Kamara’s recollection of events, the figures involved and his reasons for testifying. The defence sought to persuade jurors that Kamara had manipulated events to improve his own position with federal investigators.
Kamara rejected the suggestion that White had been deliberately drawn into a crime, telling the court: “Nobody was groomed. Trayon White didn’t have to take the money. He’s a grown man.”
He also alleged that White had a serious gambling problem and needed money. White’s lawyers challenged Kamara over the reliability of statements he had made to the FBI, including an unsubstantiated claim that “a guy paid Bowser”, referring to Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser.
Kamara said investigators had wanted to hear anything he had been told, but maintained that he had been sceptical of the claim and had never paid Ms Bowser anything.
White was arrested by the FBI in August 2024. The case centres on secretly recorded meetings and whether the money exchanged between the councilman and Kamara represented bribes or legitimate dealings, a question the jury will be required to decide.
