Harry ‘Tommy’ Thomas, Jr.

Ward 5 is divided. On one side, a group of residents refuses to believe that their Councilmember, Harry Thomas Jr. — now under federal investigation — diverted more than $300,000 from youth baseball programs to pay for an Audi and a number of lavish outings. On this side of the divide are also loyalists — those who respected Thomas’s father, the late Harry Thomas Sr., too much to publicly turn their backs on his son. Thomas’s father served as Councilmember of Ward 5 from 1987 to 1999.

On the other side of the divide, a group of residents are convinced of Thomas’s crookedness. To combat it, they’re preparing to collect enough signatures by the start of the new year to force a recall election.

The Washington Post’s Tim Craig explores how Thomas’s life has changed — and how, in many ways, it’s remained the same — since the District filed its lawsuit against him for mishandling hundreds of thousands of dollars of city money.

With Thomas facing either a potential recall election or criminal indictment, his constituents and council colleagues say that he attends fewer events, that he is less active on community listservs, and that the stress of the investigation took a toll this summer on his personal appearance, including shaving less frequently. And his brand has clearly taken a hit among many newcomers to Ward 5 who represent the city’s changing demographics.

But Thomas remains popular in large swaths of Northeast, enabling him to keep his grip on his council seat despite a civil settlement over the public funds with the city’s attorney general’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office criminal investigation.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Thomas maintained his innocence and shunned calls for his resignation lobbed by editorial writers, three council members, the D.C. Republican Party and good-government groups.

“I have good lawyers and people who deal with the legal process and I am confident through the legal process I will be vindicated,” said Thomas, 50. “My job now is to assure that the citizens of Ward 5 continue to get their fair share, and that is what I continue to do.”