D.C. Council member Trayon White takes victory lap after mistrial

An air of triumph surrounded D.C. Council member Trayon White after a judge declared a mistrial in his federal bribery case. Fine, walk around with your chest out if you want. But a hung jury is not a not-guilty verdict. That’s not how this works, and it's embarrassing that a sitting councilman would treat the inability to convict as a personal win.

What should really bother residents is that this didn't come out of nowhere. Federal prosecutors laid out a pretty ugly picture of a public official taking cash and then trying to help the folks who paid him. A mistrial means the jury couldn't agree, not that the testimony was false. That’s why some of White’s own council colleagues are now talking about the ethics violations that surfaced during the trial. They’re right to do so. A mistrial isn't an acquittal. And the ethics file doesn't disappear just because the courtroom drama paused.

There's a simple test for public office that doesn't require a law degree: don't take envelopes of money from people who want things from you. White apparently missed that lesson. What's worse, he's getting away with it so far, and he knows it. D.C. voters are stuck with a council that seems more interested in defending its own than cleaning up its act.

So here's the thing. The federal case may come back around, but it might not. Either way, the council shouldn't wait on a prosecutor to tell them what's right. Ethics violations don't get a mistrial. They get read into the record, and they hold up just fine. If White's colleagues can't find the courage to act, then residents should remember all this the next time ballots are cast. The courtroom door closed, but the public's eyes are open..