Let’s say you’re a public official. Let’s say you’re accused of steering $300,000 of city funds to personal purchases like a luxury SUV and trips to fancy resorts. Let’s say you agree to pay the city back — while not admitting any formal guilt — but have your house raided by the FBI and IRS as part of a broader federal investigation.

All told, you’d think your colleagues would call on you to step aside, if not for the appearance of impropriety, then for the sake of focusing all of your energies on your defense. In the best case scenario, you’re exonerated and chart a course for a political comeback. In the worse case scenario, you’re found guilty and your colleagues will have proven all the more prescient for having called for your resignation. (This doesn’t preclude you from a comeback, though; hello, Marion Barry!)

This is basically where we find ourselves today with the embattled Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5), who despite facing serious federal charges remains on the council and with the tacit support of the majority of his colleagues. While three members have publicly called on him to step aside — Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), David Catania (I-At Large) and Mary Cheh (D- Ward 3) — no one else has. The Post’s Tim Craig put it into broader context today — none of the 2012 contenders, including ethics maven Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), have similarly demanded he step down.

Of course, the matter can seem complicated. Thomas is still presumed innocent, as supporter and president of the D.C. Federation of Civic Associations Robert Brannum indicated in an email to Ward 5 residents last Friday. Additionally, the positive association that many ward residents have with the elder Thomas, who served in the same capacity on the council, engenders a lot of support. (Read this City Paper piece on the District’s legacy politicians.) So much so, it seems, that even Vincent Orange (D-At Large), who has tried to make himself into an ethics crusader on the council, has stayed largely quiet on Thomas, who shares a ward with him. (Mayor Vince Gray has avoided chiming in on the matter, too.)

For a man like Barry, the reasoning might be more personal — around the time he was arrested for smoking crack, he had long accused the U.S. Attorney for the District, Joe diGenova, who was white, of doing just about anything to get him. (That may not play as well this time, though, seeing as the U.S. attorney and Attorney General are both black.)

On the other side of things are the political groups and contenders that say they know what’s right and also know that there are some points to be scored. The D.C. GOP has long called on Thomas to resign, going so far as to cleverly use his name for a URL that directs to a website exposing the scandal that might eventually be his undoing. And today, Peter Shapiro, an At-Large candidate running against Orange, said in a statement that yes, Thomas should go. Ward 8 candidate Jacques Patterson said the same in July, noting that despite his friendship with Thomas, it would be the right move.

All the while, the D.C. Council awkwardly dances around the issue of what to do with Thomas. A meeting last week was pushed to today, and members of the council are currently debating behind closed doors over what to do with him. (We’ll update this post if we hear.)

There’s not much, though. He already lost his committee chairmanship, and the council can move to take him off of any other committees and pretty much take his office budget away — but they can’t get rid of him. (Under a new ethics proposal, they’d be able to vote on censure or expulsion.)

Even though he has said he would want to, not even the District’s Attorney General Irv Nathan is allowed to prosecute Thomas — that’s left to the feds, which can take their sweet time. (At a hearing last week, Nathan expressed frustration that few councilmembers had called on Thomas to resign.)

And such can continue the awkwardness at the Wilson Building for many months to come. Even if the feds indict and convict Thomas, current rules hold that only a jail sentence would force him to give up his seat. Other than that, the only real option is a recall, which some Ward 5 activists have promised to launch on January 2.

Of course, we’re certainly not the only place to have a troubled official refuse to give up their seat. The list is long and distinguished. In Prince George’s County, Leslie Johnson kept collecting a paycheck for a while, even after being indicted. Heck, even Anthony Weiner insisted that he’d survive his own recent scandal.

Every public official embroiled in scandal has a breaking point, the moment when they realize that remaining in office isn’t worth the continued aggravation of being a pariah. It remains to be seen what that might be for Thomas — if it ever comes to pass.

UPDATE, 4 P.M. The Post’s Mike DeBonis reports that after a closed-door council discussion, the most that Thomas is going to get is a talking to from D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown.