jonetta rose barras: Fred Cooke, Trayon White and the battle for an ethical government in DC

Is there any unethical or corrupt DC official whom Frederick D. Cooke Jr. won’t defend? Does he not think residents have the right to demand an honest and responsible government? Is it acceptable that politicians continue to receive taxpayer-financed salaries after deliberately and blatantly violating the law? 

Those questions crossed my mind as I watched the DC Council’s recent public hearing held in advance of its vote next week on a resolution that would expel Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White Sr. from office.

Last summer, White was arrested — and subsequently indicted by a grand jury — after he was caught on tape agreeing to accept $156,000 in bribes offered by a DC contractor turned FBI informant. The bribery-accepting spree was halted by White’s arrest in August. Between June and August, he had pocketed as much as $35,000, according to federal government documents and videotape evidence. 

At White’s arraignment on a federal bribery charge, Cooke entered a plea of not guilty on his client’s behalf. His criminal trial is scheduled for January 2026.

Soon after the arrest, Council Chair Phil Mendelson announced plans to remove White as chair of the Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs. Mendelson also established an ad hoc committee that included all councilmembers except White. Its responsibility was to investigate whether he had violated any DC laws or rules that govern legislators’ behavior and activities. A law firm, Watkins & Latham, was later hired to assist with the probe and make recommendations.

In December, the investigators concluded that there was substantial evidence against White. The council committee recommended his expulsion. 

I had reached that conclusion months earlier. The FBI affidavit made it difficult to ignore that bribes had been taken and, what’s more, that White had offered to create additional opportunities where he could accept more bribes.

Help us! The level of corruption was breathtaking. 

Still, the process of relieving the legislature of a low-performing, crooked politician, who never provided the representation Ward 8 residents needed and deserved, has been allowed to drag on so long that the upcoming vote will occur a month after he was sworn in for a third term. 

This week, in a page taken straight from the Donald J. Trump book on how to get away with political corruption, Cooke, with White at his side, challenged the council’s authority to discipline one of its members and to take the actions necessary to restore the public’s trust.

During my nearly 40 years covering local politics, I had seen countless versions of that very scene. After his tenure from 1987 through 1989 as DC corporation counsel — that’s what the city government’s top lawyer was then called — Cooke appeared to be on speed dial for every corrupt government official and politician. Most were indisputable violators of the public’s trust.

I know, I know: The U.S. judicial system provides that everyone is entitled to legal representation. Cooke, therefore, was fulfilling an essential role. 

However, was he prohibited from turning down a case? Was there no situation where his ethics compelled him to say no?

When then-Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. was arrested and charged with buying clothing, cars and trips using $350,000 of taxpayer funds earmarked for underserved youth, Cooke was among the first lawyers to stand with him. Later, Karl Racine, the man who would become the city’s first elected attorney general, represented Thomas in federal court before he was sentenced to 38 months in prison. 

Cooke was also on the scene when Council Chair Kwame Brown was arrested and charged with bank fraud for falsifying loan documents he signed to purchase his home and a boat; he was also charged with campaign finance violations. Brown pleaded guilty to both, avoiding any significant jail time with six months’ home detention for the fraud charge; he also agreed to resign his elected position. 

Cooke also represented several individuals who were involved in a major campaign finance scandal that ensnared the mayoral election committee of then-Council Chair Vincent C. Gray. 

While Gray was never actually charged with wrongdoing, several of his close allies were, including Jeffrey Thompson, a prominent health care business executive, and Jeanne Clarke Harris, a public relations consultant. Cooke was her lawyer.

Before those swamp-swimming escapades, Cooke represented former Mayor Marion Barry Jr. on a variety of charges: evading taxes; accepting a loan from a business owner in a breach of council rules; and violating campaign finance laws. Cooke’s handling of the latter seemed particularly relevant to his performance on White’s behalf earlier this week during the council’s public hearing.

Back in the mid-1990s, Cooke and David Wilmot, whom I dubbed “The Tag Team” in an article published in the City Paper, questioned whether the acting head of the Office of Campaign Finance had the authority to charge Barry with any violations, since the official’s tenure had technically expired. That strategy made it possible for Barry’s mayoral committee to avoid criminal charges and face just a $1,600 fine.

This week, after Mendelson and Chair Pro Tempore Kenyan McDuffie explained the council’s case against White, Cooke declared that his client denied all “allegations, specifications and charges.”

Performing one of his old favorites, Cooke argued that there were “procedural defects and deficiencies” in how the council dealt with White’s case. He said the “matter should be dismissed and put on a proper track.”

Further, he challenged whether the council even had the authority to conduct an investigation, asserting such powers belong only to the Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA). He noted that the statute permits individuals to appeal its rulings to the DC Superior Court or the DC Court of Appeals. 

The council does not provide for such a remedy, he protested — although I presume any person believing themselves to have been treated unfairly or illegally can file a complaint of some sort with the court.

“Nowhere in the DC Code is the council given authority to enforce violations,” said Cooke. 

He also claimed that the council was relying on an outdated resolution introduced during the previous Council Period 25. Since a new period started this month, the expulsion was no longer properly before the legislature.

Cooke was either wrong or disingenuous, however. The resolution had been reintroduced, and as part of their new rules, legislators approved the carryover to Council Period 26.

To leave no old stone unturned, Cooke also hinted at possible racial discrimination, accusing the council of following a different procedure than it did in 2019 when considering the expulsion of Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who is white.

Once again, Cooke appears to have tangled the facts. For example, he said the council began its investigation only after BEGA had opened its case against Evans, seemingly suggesting that the council relied on the board’s inquiry when preparing its own recommendation. 

Actually, the council took multiple actions in 2019 regarding Evans’ violations of ethics rules. Lawmakers initially reprimanded him for misusing government resources when he was seeking outside employment. Later, a report prepared by the ethics officer at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority was leaked to the press; the document raised questions about actions Evans may have taken on behalf of a constituent. Simultaneously, the U.S. attorney was considering Evans’ role in a case involving a media display company that was under investigation in Washington state. These two factors prompted a new round of complaints from several people, including at-large Councilmembers David Grosso and Elissa Silverman. 

Mendelson established a special committee, and the council hired an outside law firm. Unlike White, who refused four times to explain his behavior to investigators and colleagues, Evans actually spoke at least five times to the investigation team and publicly to councilmembers. However, before the formal vote to expel him, Evans decided to resign. 

It wasn’t until after that action that BEGA notified him and his lawyers that it intended to reopen and expand an investigation it had paused, according to knowledgeable sources. Interestingly, the U.S. attorney never charged Evans with any offense. However, hoping to put all the matters behind him, Evans reportedly negotiated a settlement with BEGA that included payment of a penalty for his misuse of government resources.

It could be that Cooke’s maneuvers during the council hearing were designed to confuse and intimidate. Perhaps the challenge of authority would cause at least one or two legislators, such as new member Wendell Felder of Ward 7, to decline to expel. (There must be a five-sixths supermajority vote for the expulsion to proceed. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room.) 

Felder did not respond to my email request for a comment.

Aside from trying to stymie the expulsion vote, Cooke also appears to have been signaling his next steps. He undoubtedly will try to appeal to the courts, making arguments similar to those he presented before the council. 

And you can bet Cooke or White will suggest racial discrimination or FBI misconduct, the latter evocative of Trump’s favorite playbook. That move was telegraphed when White walked into the council chamber of the John A. Wilson Building wearing a T-shirt with the image of Fred Hampton, a Black Panther member allegedly murdered by law enforcement with the assistance of the FBI.

To connect Hampton — a locally and nationally prominent leader in Chicago who provided services and worked for unity — to a bribe accepted by a Black elected official who also schemed to hustle money from mental health services available to vulnerable residents is sacrilegious. However, given White’s tenure, it’s apparent to me that nothing is really sacred to him. 

For White, everything is a game and a hustle, which is unquestionably straight from Trump’s book on how to claim to be a public servant without actually being one.

jonetta rose barras is an author and DC-based freelance journalist, covering national and local issues. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.