Trayon White Arrested by FBI

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, he has slowed gentrification because us gentrifiers don't vote for him. He has been living by another set of rules for years. Let justice be served

Yes, he’s slowed gentrification - which is why he’s been framed with these charges.

Developers want city politicians they can own who will let them do as they please. Trayon did not fit that mold.

So they’re framing him.

There's no framing if he had clean hands. He took the bait which is the oldest trick in the book which got him in this situation. He's for the people alright.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, he has slowed gentrification because us gentrifiers don't vote for him. He has been living by another set of rules for years. Let justice be served

Yes, he’s slowed gentrification - which is why he’s been framed with these charges.

Developers want city politicians they can own who will let them do as they please. Trayon did not fit that mold.

So they’re framing him.

Ha! Sure!

That’s why he was arrested at his LUXURY APARTMENT in Navy Yard! He hates gentrification soooo very much that he had to do some…hm…”research” by living smack dab in the center of the big evil developer paradise known as Navy Yard!

[Anonymous]

How many council members does that make now?

No wonder they are soft on crime. They have skin in the game.

[Anonymous]

This was the easiest way to get caught. Queue the Marion Barry quote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still doesn’t justify holding him without bond and no access to legal council.

It's legal counsel, not council (the latter is what he's on, the former is what he needs) and people can get it while incarcerated. If he has access to thousands in cash I can see why he'd be considered a flight risk and denied bond.

If he's living where he was arrested, it's not in ward 8: most of navy yard is, so he had lots of options to move West of the river and still be in his ward, but this building is the small part of the neighborhood that stayed in ward 6. Also if he lives in the apartment, he is wrongfully getting the homestead deduction on the house he owns in SE.

I wonder what will happen to the receptionist who told reporters that he lives in the building. I would also be nervous if I were the person who wore the camera...a lot of people are going to be pretty mad at him. And if I were on the staff or board of the nonprofit that tried to bribe him, that's also a bad situation... anything from layoffs to criminal charges could be forthcoming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should arrest Brianne Nadeu too for her supporting the violence interrupters. Maybe she also was getting paid

Some people get paid, others are so brain-fried they actually thought this was a good idea. The former take advantage of the latter.

[Anonymous]

Will he have to step down as a council member? Will there be a special election taken place in November?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will he have to step down as a council member? Will there be a special election taken place in November?

No and no. Maybe if he is convicted, recalled, or removed by the other council members but none of that will happen in the next 3 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to whose idea it was to record these meetings. Was this a set up, sting, an insurance policy or something else?

It was an FBI sting. The person who was giving Trayon all that money himself was facing federal bank-fraud and bribery charges. He became an FBI informant and gave up Trayon to reduce his punishment. It's all in the arrest affidavit:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25050966-trayon_white_arrestaffidavit

If anything good can come of this (beyond Trayon's hopeful resignation), it's the downfall of the violence interrupter programs, which have done jack squat to reduce crime in DC despite the millions that have been thrown at them, with almost zero oversight. Bribery issues like this are the result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to whose idea it was to record these meetings. Was this a set up, sting, an insurance policy or something else?

It was an FBI sting. The person who was giving Trayon all that money himself was facing federal bank-fraud and bribery charges. He became an FBI informant and gave up Trayon to reduce his punishment. It's all in the arrest affidavit:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25050966-trayon_white_arrestaffidavit

If anything good can come of this (beyond Trayon's hopeful resignation), it's the downfall of the violence interrupter programs, which have done jack squat to reduce crime in DC despite the millions that have been thrown at them, with almost zero oversight. Bribery issues like this are the result.

A key point is that it seems that the payoffs predated the FBI investigation. The standard entrapment defense is unlikely to fly here. It will be interesting to see if others are ensnared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, he has slowed gentrification because us gentrifiers don't vote for him. He has been living by another set of rules for years. Let justice be served

Yes, he’s slowed gentrification - which is why he’s been framed with these charges.

Developers want city politicians they can own who will let them do as they please. Trayon did not fit that mold.

So they’re framing him.

Ha! Sure!

That’s why he was arrested at his LUXURY APARTMENT in Navy Yard! He hates gentrification soooo very much that he had to do some…hm…”research” by living smack dab in the center of the big evil developer paradise known as Navy Yard!

Trayon lobbied to get the Navy Yard redistricted into Ward 8. Easier to access development cash, apparently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to whose idea it was to record these meetings. Was this a set up, sting, an insurance policy or something else?

It was an FBI sting. The person who was giving Trayon all that money himself was facing federal bank-fraud and bribery charges. He became an FBI informant and gave up Trayon to reduce his punishment. It's all in the arrest affidavit:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25050966-trayon_white_arrestaffidavit

If anything good can come of this (beyond Trayon's hopeful resignation), it's the downfall of the violence interrupter programs, which have done jack squat to reduce crime in DC despite the millions that have been thrown at them, with almost zero oversight. Bribery issues like this are the result.

An excellent “violence interrupter” program is a long stay in a cold jail cell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, he has slowed gentrification because us gentrifiers don't vote for him. He has been living by another set of rules for years. Let justice be served

Yes, he’s slowed gentrification - which is why he’s been framed with these charges.

Developers want city politicians they can own who will let them do as they please. Trayon did not fit that mold.

So they’re framing him.

Ha! Sure!

That’s why he was arrested at his LUXURY APARTMENT in Navy Yard! He hates gentrification soooo very much that he had to do some…hm…”research” by living smack dab in the center of the big evil developer paradise known as Navy Yard!

Trayon lobbied to get the Navy Yard redistricted into Ward 8. Easier to access development cash, apparently.

And then he managed to move into the sliver of the neighborhood that stayed in ward 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bribery.

Sounds like entrapment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bribery.

Sounds like entrapment.

Read the affidavit. The informant told the FBI that he had been bribing Trayon already and offered to get it all on tape to prove it. It's not entrapment if Trayon already was doing it.