Good morning. This is The Washington Sun Metro newsletter for Sept. 17, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!
In today’s newsletter: Why a former D.C. AG crashed a protest, Day 2 of Trayon’s trial and the District’s troubled arts scene.
Capital Weather’s Daily Digit: 3/10. We’re about a week past the average final day of 90-plus but could get there today, and humidity is high. It’s not the September weather we dream of! Read the full forecast.
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It’s not often that people in D.C. politics say something is “stunning.”
But that’s how some described an unexpected scene outside the Wilson Building on Tuesday, which was witnessed by The Washington Sun’s Martin Austermuhle. It was there that former Attorney General Karl Racine crashed a press conference held by tenants of a building whose owner is being sued by current Attorney General Brian Schwalb over claims of bad housing conditions. Racine is representing the owner, Buwa Binitie, in the litigation.
Racine sparred with tenants and organizers, and took pictures as they spoke during a protest against Binitie — drawing accusations that he was being a bully. The former attorney general — who during his own term took on slumlords — said he was merely defending his client and trying to bring context to what he said was a “complicated” situation.
Tenants weren’t having it. They said conditions at many of Binitie’s buildings have deteriorated dramatically, with few attempts to address them. Racine argued that’s not the developer’s fault — there’s been sabotage and unpaid rent, leading to financial troubles at the properties, he said.
The issue is being litigated; a court hearing on Schwalb’s demand for a restraining order to start immediate fixes on the building is set for today. In a new court filing, Racine argues that D.C. should empty the building to allow Binitie to conduct needed fixes and improve conditions.
FROM THE COURTHOUSE
If the first day of Trayon White’s trial was all about broad competing narratives, the second day zoomed in on the intricate details of the alleged schemes — what prosecutors have said is the “brazen bribery” the Ward 8 council member allegedly participated in.
And for that, prosecutors relied on their star witness: Allieu Kamara. The D.C. businessman-turned-informant gave White $35,000 in cash with a promise of up to $156,000 more if he could help Kamara keep his existing government contracts and land more of them.
Prosecutor Rebecca Ross methodically asked Kamara to describe to jurors what was happening in five videos and multiple phone calls from the summer of 2024 that he had surreptitiously recorded. In them, Kamara and White allegedly discussed who White would meet with to help Kamara with contracts — and how much White would get for his troubles.
“We’ve always had this pay-to-play relationship,” Kamara said of White, detailing how his alleged bribery of White stretched as far back as 2019, when he said he gave the council member $20,000 — half of which was handed over in White’s council office in the Wilson Building.
The videos showed Kamara and White discussing who White would speak with about Kamara’s contracts, including senior D.C. officials. This is a critical component of the prosecution’s case: They need to prove that White actually did something in exchange for the money. Defense attorneys say there’s no such evidence. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah testified White never asked her about Kamara’s contracts, but grants specialist Anwar Walker said he did receive an inquiry from the lawmaker.
More details that emerged Wednesday: The FBI agent in charge of the case said White was arrested on Aug. 18, 2024, because it was the deadline to wrap up the investigation so as not to interfere in the November election — which White won. Additionally, Kamara clarified to prosecutors that he is not White’s brother-in-law, contradicting a claim made by defense attorney Warren Gary Kohlman on Tuesday.
Today is likely to be a much bigger day in court, as the defense is expected to cross-examine Kamara — whom Kohlman already referred to as a “snitch” who was “corrupt to the bone” and working with the government to save himself from prosecution for his own crimes.
FROM THE DISTRICT
D.C.’s arts scene has always been political, but President Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover and other venue closures have left some residents asking whether the District is the place for them to pursue a career in the arts, reports The Sun’s Torrie Herrington.
The Kennedy Center’s CFO resigned Tuesday, the same day the center’s board of trustees voted to close it down for renovations and add Trump’s name to the building, Herrington reports. Rep. Joyce Beatty is asking a federal judge to hold an emergency hearing over that closure, arguing it violated an existing court order.
Sign of the times: The Interior Department is planning to install roughly a dozen signs — each costing about $7,000 — outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History that will denounce certain exhibits, The Sun’s Angie Orellana Hernandez reports.
Don’t you hate it when city crews don’t pick up your trash? The D.C. Department of Public Works has created a new online map that lets residents track the status of their scheduled trash and recycling collections.
Remember Empower, the ride-hailing service driven out of D.C. because regulators and courts deemed it illegal? Ward 1 council member Brianne Nadeau’s committee came out with a new report Wednesday detailing how the company skirted city law, and promised to introduce legislation in the coming days to “clarify, once-and-for-all, that the way the company operates is illegal.” Included in the report: a claim that Empower found a workaround to being banned from offering paid rides in the city by breaking them up into two segments — charging nothing for the part in D.C., but then factoring that cost into the segment outside the city.
When asked about that claim, and the report more broadly, an Empower spokesperson told The Sun that it supports new legislation that “levels the playing field and enables drivers who wish to work for themselves to do so. As for the rest of the report, there are too many factual inaccuracies to count.”
TALK TO TOM
Tom Sietsema’s back to tell you all about the D.C. dining scene. This week, he dishes on a local cooking competition.
A veritable school of fish, foremost salmon, was flown in for a cook-off Tuesday night among six Nordic nations at the Norwegian embassy, where a bipartisan panel of judges — Clockout D.C. influencer Jade Womack, HHS senior advisor Calley Means and myself — speed-ate our way through elaborate menus from each contestant. We sampled 15 dishes in less than 30 minutes, all while listening to each chef share their back stories as they were photographed and interviewed.
The event, supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers, placed chefs representing Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway at impromptu kitchens in the courtyard of the host embassy.
While we applauded the lot (and would have done a Houdini on the berry-crowned brown cheesecake with a liquid center from Norwegian chef Eilif Rosok, had there been more time), our No. 1 pick united components that looked like presents: salmon, mussels and leaks in bow-tied parchment paper; salt cod and potatoes gathered with an intense, midnight-colored puttanesca under a cloche; and fruit, edible flowers and white chocolate staged beneath a spun-sugar dome.
The talent behind the trio: Gutti Winther, host of “The Nordic Pantry” on TV, repping the Faroe Islands — “population 50,000,” the chef let the assembly know. Good things in small packages and all that jazz.
For more from Tom, check out this week’s Talk to Tom Q&A.
SPORTS
Commanders fans can finally get a look inside the team’s new stadium, thanks to renderings released Wednesday. The Sun’s Alex Schiffer reports that the team’s new home, set to open in 2030 at the old RFK Stadium site, is shown to have a unified seating bowl that’s designed “in one continuous sweep from field level to upper deck” and a fan wall near one end zone that will include affordable seating.
The Caps signed two young players to long-term contracts Tuesday — really long-term contracts. Forwards Ryan Leonard and Justin Sourdif each inked eight-year deals, hours before the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement went into effect. Schiffer reports that the timing was everything: Under the new CBA, deals are capped at seven years.
What to Watch Today
WNBA: Mystics at Chicago Sky, 8 p.m. (Monumental)
NFL: Lions at Bills, 8:15 p.m. (Prime Video)
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The newsletter was produced by Jaden Amos, Michael Errigo and Nikie Johnson.
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