DC Councilmember Trayon White Sr. arrested on federal bribery charges

Washington, D.C. was rocked Sunday afternoon after it was announced that Trayon White Sr., a D.C. city council member, was arrested by the FBI.

According to Fox News, the reason for the 40-year-old council member's arrest wasn't immediately available. However, it didn't take long for the Justice Department to confirm that the Democrat had been arrested on a federal bribery charge.

The Ward 8 representative was also the "chair of the Council’s Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs, which oversees several agencies including the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS)," according to a Justice Department press release.

The release revealed the reason for White's arrest on federal charges.

"The complaint 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 Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and DYRS to extend several D.C. contracts," the press release stated.

BREAKING: Washington DC councilmember was arrested for allegedly accepting $150,000 in bribes

Democrat Trayon White Sr,40, ran for mayor in 2022. He accused of using his position to benefit companies with city contracts

The FBI arrested him on a federal bribery charge

The FBI… pic.twitter.com/pfco0kDkGV

— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) August 19, 2024

Fox News noted that the contracts were worth a staggering $5.2 million.

The DOJ added, "White’s agreement with a confidential human source (the owner of the companies) – including the source’s payments to White of $35,000 in cash on four separate occasions (June 26, July 17, July 25, and August 9, 2024) and the source showing White a document reflecting how White’s three-percent cut was calculated based on those contracts -- was captured on video."

In addition to the cash he raked in by taking part in the alleged bribes, White was also "corruptly" gifted trips, including travel to the Dominican Republican and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fox News reported that White was released on bond on his own recognizance.

If convicted on the charges, a local media outlet noted that he could face up to 15 years in prison and pay at least a $250,000 fine.

If White's name sounds familiar, it's because in 2018 he stirred up headlines after claiming in a viral video that Jewish financiers control the weather.

Fox News noted, "And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We’re a resilient city.’ And that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man," he said in the now-deleted video. "Be careful."

He would later apologize to the Jewish community for the asinine comment.