Trayon White renews bid for acquittal, as jury returns for 4th day of trial deliberations

Attorneys for D.C. Council member Trayon White are pressing a federal judge to acquit the Ward 8 lawmaker before jurors return Monday for a fourth day of deliberations in his bribery trial.

In a new filing Sunday, White’s defense team asked U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras to quickly consider a pending motion for acquittal, arguing jurors have been presented with several paths to a bribery conviction that are not supported by the evidence.


More from the Travon White bribery trial:

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  • Prosecutors, defense make final arguments before jury deliberates in DC council member’s federal bribery trial

White’s attorneys pointed to the jury’s inability to reach a unanimous verdict after three days of deliberations as they renewed their push for Contreras to decide the motion.

They asked the judge to order federal prosecutors to respond by Monday morning and hold a hearing on the acquittal request as soon as possible.

As of Sunday evening, Contreras had not responded to the Sunday filing.

Jurors began deliberating Wednesday and told the judge Friday morning that they could not reach a unanimous verdict after about 15 hours of deliberations. Contreras denied a defense request for a mistrial and instructed the jury to continue deliberating.

White has pleaded not guilty to a single federal bribery charge stemming from allegations that he accepted $35,000 in cash from D.C. businessman Allieu Kamara in 2024 in exchange for using his position on the D.C. Council to help Kamara secure or renew city contracts.

White’s attorneys do not dispute that he accepted the money. Instead, they argue prosecutors failed to prove that White intended to be influenced in exchange for the cash, a required element of the charge. Prosecutors contend White agreed to use his public position to advocate for Kamara’s business interests.

That issue appeared to be central to the jury’s deliberations. At one point, jurors asked whether it would constitute bribery if White accepted money to perform an official act but never intended to follow through on the agreement. Contreras instructed the jury that it would not.

The jury returned to federal court Monday morning to resume deliberations.

This is a developing story. Stay with WTOP for the latest developments.

WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.

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