The reaction to the lawsuit filed by the District against Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. has been swift and damning — of course, that’s what will happen when you show up to a press conference in the very car the Attorney General claims you improperly spent nearly $60,000 in city money on.
Press theatrics aside, it doesn’t look particularly good for Thomas. Attorney General Irv Nathan said yesterday that Thomas was “willful, intentional and knowing” in diverting more than $300,000 in city funds meant to be spent on youth baseball programs to his Team Thomas organization. The purchases — including said Audi, lavish golf outings trips to Las Vegas and Pebble Beach, and so forth — are strikingly familiar to the kind of expenses that led to the downfall of former Prince George’s County executive Jack Johnson. The timeline of the money is even more troubling: a $400,000 earmark in 2007 which Thomas claimed he had “a clear direction for,” and was then, according to the AG, funneled into an account that Thomas had actually overdrawn.
The allegations have led for many to call for Thomas to resign. None more forcefully than the Post’s editorial board, who has hammered at Thomas for months and wrote today that “Thomas says he won’t resign from the council; clearly, he should reconsider.” Jo-Ann Armao continues: “But, then, that would require him to show something that has been sadly lacking from his council tenure: consideration for the people he is supposed to serve.”
The Councilmember, of course, has denied any wrongdoing and promised to fight the charges. But as for his role on the Council, well, that could be in question regardless of his guilt. Council Chair Kwame Brown released a statement last night which said the Council will develop a “plan of action” regarding Thomas — whether that includes an attempt by the Chair to get the majority of votes he would need to strip Thomas of his economic development chairmanship is still unknown. (Plenty of options have been bandied about regarding Thomas’ potential replacement as chair of the powerful economic development committee — At-Large councilmembers Vince Orange and Michael A. Brown appear to be the frontrunners, according to sources.)
Then again, his chairmanship might be the least of Thomas’ concerns — after all, the city is seeking over $1 million from him and criminal charges from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI are not out of the question.
