Today, December 16, the Ad Hoc Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the D.C. Council expel Councilmember Trayon White for violations of the D.C. Code and D.C. Council Rules. Councilmember Nadeau made the following remarks. The full investigative report can be read on the Council’s website.
From the beginning of this process, I have said that the charges against Councilmember Trayon White are alarming and disappointing. Having now as a committee conducted a fair, thorough, and independent investigation, it is clear that beyond profound disappointment, we are also dealing with a serious breach of public trust. The facts outlined in this report amount to substantial evidence of multiple violations of the D.C. Code of Conduct and the Council Rules.
The investigation details that Councilmember White violated at least six provisions in the D.C. Code of Conduct or Council Rules. There is substantial evidence that Councilmember White accepted tens of thousands of dollars in cash from an individual with a business holding or seeking contracts or grants with the District. There is substantial evidence that he accepted those cash payments in exchange for agreeing to meet with and influence multiple government officials to ensure the contracts of the individual’s organizations would be renewed. And there is substantial evidence that he did, in fact, meet with the government officials in question and discussed the matters of interest.
We also know, and this is very important to me personally, that every Councilmember and every staff member is required to take the same ethics trainings every year and is subject to the same ethics rules. These were not small or technical violations, they were not honest mistakes.
Serving on the Council is a privilege and a solemn responsibility. I believe that as elected officials, we are called to the highest standards of personal and professional conduct. We have a responsibility to hold ourselves to those high standards, and to hold our colleagues to those high standards. I believe that we have before us substantial evidence that Councilmember White failed to live up to those standards by violating the D.C Code of Conduct and the Council Rules, violating laws of the most serious nature, presenting a serious threat to the public trust.
This continues to be difficult and painful for residents of the District, especially for the residents of Ward 8 and the staff who have faithfully served and still are serving the residents of Ward 8 and who, it should be noted, have not been implicated in any way in the investigators’ report.
We have the necessary information. Now we must take action. We must act if we are to retain the public’s trust in the Council. And we must act to ensure that the residents of Ward 8 have the honorable representation they deserve.
I believe this committee should vote to expel Mr. White.
