The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi
Sep 18, 2026 · 50 min · 11 segments
It's the District's trial of the year. Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember Trayon White is being tried in federal court this week on charges that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in late 2024…
Tom SherwoodPanelist
Kojo NnamdiHostSuhas SubramaniamGuestKim JacksonGuest
Jenny GathrightGuest
Before we get to that court case in particular, Tom Sherwood, we do have to talk about the fact that former D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan has passed away.
And I recall that the last time he was on this show some 15 years ago, the conversation was about two D.C. council members who were facing jail time because of financial improprieties.
Yes, Irv Nathan is not particularly well known as a public official, but in the legal world, he was well known and respected.
As somebody told me that some lawyers wear flashy suits and file flashy lawsuits, and that was not Irv Nathan.
But Irv Nathan, who died this week, back in 2007, was general counsel to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
He first brought those charges of corruption against Councilmember Harry Thomas, that horrible case in which Harry Thomas, as a sitting Councilmember, had, and he was convicted in court of this, so I can say it, funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars from youth sports programs, which he championed in public, to his pocket in private.
And Nathan worked with, when Justice Katanya Brown Jackson was on the district court, he was working with her to redo how juries are treated to make them more efficient.
And in this neighborhood here on Connecticut Avenue, He served on the David A. Clark Law School Board.
So Irv Nathan had a strong, kind of silent, but very strong hand in D.C. legal affairs.
was he not? Yes, the name was changed from Corporation Counsel, no one virtually knew what that meant, to Attorney General.
And then later we had an elected Attorney General, and Carl Racine was the first elected Attorney General.
Before we get to that court case in particular, Tom Sherwood, we do have to talk about the fact that former D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan has passed away.
And I recall that the last time he was on this show some 15 years ago, the conversation was about two D.C. council members who were facing jail time because of financial improprieties.
Yes, Irv Nathan is not particularly well known as a public official, but in the legal world, he was well known and respected.
As somebody told me that some lawyers wear flashy suits and file flashy lawsuits, and that was not Irv Nathan.
But Irv Nathan, who died this week, back in 2007, was general counsel to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
He first brought those charges of corruption against Councilmember Harry Thomas, that horrible case in which Harry Thomas, as a sitting Councilmember, had, and he was convicted in court of this, so I can say it, funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars from youth sports programs, which he championed in public, to his pocket in private.
And Nathan worked with, when Justice Katanya Brown Jackson was on the district court, he was working with her to redo how juries are treated to make them more efficient.
And in this neighborhood here on Connecticut Avenue, He served on the David A. Clark Law School Board.
So Irv Nathan had a strong, kind of silent, but very strong hand in D.C. legal affairs.
was he not? Yes, the name was changed from Corporation Counsel, no one virtually knew what that meant, to Attorney General.
And then later we had an elected Attorney General, and Carl Racine was the first elected Attorney General.
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