D.C. Councilmember Robert White’s congressional campaign erroneously excluded more than $1 million in mortgage debt on a mandatory personal financial disclosure, according to property records reviewed by NOTUS.
White, a D.C. native who has served as the at-large councilmember since 2016, also failed to disclose his position as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University.
White is a frontrunner in a crowded Democratic field to succeed D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who last week announced she would not seek reelection for a 19th term as the District’s nonvoting representative on Capitol Hill.
Roger Limoges, White’s campaign spokesperson, told NOTUS, “The omission was unintentional and is regretted.”
“The Robert White for Congress Campaign will file an amended financial disclosure with the Office of the Clerk of the House within 48 hours to disclose home mortgages and income for serving as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University that were inadvertently omitted,” Limoges said in a statement to NOTUS.
Limoges also said, “The campaign has replaced its previous compliance officer.”
All federal candidates are required to file a financial disclosure with Congress detailing personal income, assets and debt within 30 days of becoming a candidate, or after raising or spending $5,000.
White’s campaign initially missed its filing deadline, in violation of federal ethics law, according to OpenSecrets.
White ultimately filed in early November, and in his report, he disclosed between $159,011 and $485,000 in assets, including mutual funds, retirement accounts and life insurance. (Candidates are only required by law to report the values of their assets and liabilities in broad ranges, making it difficult to precisely calculate their net worth.)
White also disclosed between $85,002 and $180,000 in liabilities. That includes his wife’s $100,000 in student loan debt and as much as $65,000 in credit card debt, according to the report. White himself disclosed carrying between $10,000 and $15,000 in credit card debt.
White’s November disclosure to Congress did not include his position at Georgetown Law, which he did include on his separate 2025 councilmember financial disclosure filed in early November. White disclosed earning between $1,001 and $15,000 for his role.
The November congressional report also failed to include two mortgages originally valued at $952,000 and $95,000, according to the D.C. Recorder of Deeds website. D.C. councilmember disclosures explicitly do not require the disclosure of mortgages on personal residences, which are required on congressional disclosures.
These additional debts have a significant impact on White’s overall net worth — typically defined as assets minus liabilities.
And fellow D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s congressional campaign reported an early financial lead, raising more than $843,000 between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31 and ending the period with $608,867 in cash on hand.
After requesting and receiving a 90-day extension, Pinto’s campaign on Monday filed a certified financial disclosure with Congress that disclosed assets between $1.6 million and nearly $3.7 million, including bank accounts, retirement accounts and mutual funds. Pinto reported no liabilities.
“The least we can expect from our elected leaders is transparency and adherence to the law. Repeatedly lying on official federal reports is at best careless, and at worst, an attempt to deliberately mislead the public. Neither is acceptable for an elected official, and District residents deserve better,” Drew Godinich, a Pinto campaign spokesperson, said in a statement to NOTUS.
The race to succeed Norton is on track to be one of the most expensive in D.C. history, with three fundraising frontrunners pulling ahead in the crowded field of Democratic candidates.
White’s campaign reported raising $230,399 between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 as well as $151,819 in cash on hand and $87,250 in debts and obligations, according to federal campaign finance disclosures filed last week with the Federal Election Commission.
The campaign for Kinney Zalesne, former deputy national finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, reported raising $158,000 — including a $50,000 loan from Zalesne — and $445,192 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.
Zalesne filed her congressional candidate financial disclosure in August. She disclosed joint assets valued collectively between $7.6 million and $30.4 million and no liabilities.
A Zalesne spokesperson declined to comment.
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