A federal judge has declared a mistrial in the bribery case against Washington DC council member Trayon White, after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
Prosecutors accused Mr White of accepting cash in return for using his elected position to help secure extensions to city contracts for an associate’s violence-intervention business. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the government would seek a retrial.
“We have video showing piles of cash being given to a DC councilmember as part of a $156,000 bribe,” Ms Pirro said in a statement. “Rest assured that we will retry this case and every corruption case to verdict.”
Mr White, who represents Ward 8, was arrested in August 2024 and charged with accepting more than $150,000 in bribes. Prosecutors alleged he agreed to pressure officials at the Office of Neighbourhood Safety and Engagement and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to extend contracts worth millions of dollars.
According to the government’s case, an FBI informant gave Mr White $35,000 in cash over four meetings. The conversations and exchanges were secretly recorded, with prosecutors presenting video footage during the trial.
Mr White has denied wrongdoing. His lawyers argued that he was set up by the informant and that prosecutors had not proved he intended to carry out a corrupt official act after receiving the money.
The jury began deliberating on Wednesday, 23 September, and told the judge on Friday that it was unable to agree on a verdict. The judge instructed the panel to continue, but it was dismissed after further deliberations and returned to court on Monday, 28 September, when the mistrial was formally declared.
The case centred partly on whether Mr White had agreed to perform a specific official act in exchange for the payments. Jurors asked whether accepting money could amount to bribery if the defendant never intended to fulfil the agreement, and were told that it could not.
The mistrial leaves the charge unresolved and allows prosecutors to bring the case before a new jury. The Justice Department has not indicated when a second trial might begin.
Mr White was expelled unanimously from the DC Council in February 2025 following the allegations, but won a special election for the vacant Ward 8 seat in July of that year. He was sworn back into office on 8 August 2025.
