Trayon White's bribery trial opens with cash-handoff video

Kohlman calls cooperating witness Kamara ‘corrupt to the bone’

The federal bribery trial of D.C. Council Member Trayon White Sr. opened Tuesday with prosecutors playing video they say captures the Ward 8 council member accepting envelopes of cash from businessman Allieu Kamara during meetings in the summer of 2024. In the video, Kamara can be heard saying he wanted D.C. officials’ favor to renew contracts worth millions, The Washington Post reported. White has pleaded not guilty.

In his opening statement, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb Jr. told jurors the alleged bribery was put into writing. Crabb said White had agreed to make $156,000 if he helped Kamara secure three D.C. contracts for his nonprofit, Life Deeds, which works to ease violence in crime-ridden neighborhoods. White collected only $35,000, Crabb said, before the FBI arrested him following a final meeting with Kamara.

Crabb quoted White as telling Kamara during one meeting: “Once you get me, if you lock eyes and get your understanding, I get to work.” The prosecutor told jurors that by “locking eyes and getting to work,” White meant taking bribes. Crabb also said White carried outstanding campaign debt and was trying to fund a real estate investment in North Carolina. He quoted White as saying at one point that “it’s really expensive to see girls and have fun.”

Defense attorney Gary Kohlman countered that there was “no crime” and “no quid pro quo.” In his opening argument, Kohlman said White had accepted money but that it was not a bribe, and that White had only checked on the status of Kamara’s contracts as part of constituent services. He also attacked the credibility of the cooperating witness, calling Kamara “corrupt to the bone.”

Kohlman also raised that Kamara was White’s brother-in-law and said Kamara had been caught by the FBI for defrauding COVID-19 relief programs, which White, 42, had offered in exchange for a plea deal. Kamara, contacted by The Washington Post, denied the family connection. “You know it’s not true,” Kamara told the newspaper before saying, “I’m not allowed to talk to you” and referring further questions to his attorney.

FBI Agent Matthew Gano testified Tuesday that the bureau opened its investigation into White in 2023, after learning about Kamara’s conduct during an inquiry into fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans. Gano said agents confronted Kamara with their evidence and asked him to cooperate in the case against White. Kamara then offered White the bribe.

Kamara’s nonprofit ultimately did not receive the contract extensions at the heart of the case. To secure a bribery conviction, prosecutors must prove White intended to use his position to help Kamara.

White, 42, is in his third term representing Ward 8 on the D.C. Council. Months after his 2024 arrest, voters returned him to office. In February 2025, the council voted 12-0 to expel him. He later won his seat back in a special election.