Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember Trayon White Sr. will go to trial on federal bribery charges next month, with jury selection set to begin Friday, Sept. 11, after a readiness hearing Wednesday, Aug. 19, before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras.

The trial, expected to last two weeks once a jury is seated, comes more than two years after the FBI arrested White in August 2024. He is accused of accepting $35,000 in cash bribes and agreeing to steer District mental health contracts to a contact in exchange for $156,000 in kickbacks. White chaired the council committee overseeing violence interruption programs at the time.

White has denied the charges. He has claimed the FBI set him up.

Judge narrows juror questions

At Wednesday's hearing, Contreras struck down two proposed questions for potential jurors, according to WUSA9. One asked, "How do you feel about politicians?" Contreras called it too broad. A second question about undercover operations and entrapment was rejected as too pointed. The judge told attorneys to reword both.

Jury questionnaires will go out Sept. 8. The court will screen which prospective jurors to summon on Sept. 10, with formal selection beginning the following day.

Defense challenges quid pro quo

White's attorneys used the hearing to push back on the prosecution's case. They argued prosecutors have not provided a sufficiently concrete explanation of what White allegedly did, and said the government may be able to show a friendship between White and a witness but has no evidence of a quid pro quo. The defense also attacked the informant's credibility, citing what they called "zigzags" in the informant's statements.

Court warns White on witness contact

Prosecutors disclosed at the hearing that the week before, White's chief of staff texted a witness, attaching a news article that named the witness and writing, "Keeping you prayed up." The government characterized the message as an attempt to rattle the witness.

Contreras warned the defense to ensure White understands he cannot communicate with witnesses directly or indirectly.

Political backdrop

White's path to trial has been politically extraordinary. After his August 2024 arrest, he won reelection that November. His council colleagues expelled him in February 2025. He then ran in the special election for the same seat and won again, returning to the council by August 2025.

Separately, the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability issued a public censure of White in June 2026 for failing to file three required financial disclosure statements, imposing a $900 civil penalty.