Two D.C. councilmembers are calling on Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas to resign after he settled a lawsuit with the District, agreeing to pay the city back $300,000 he was accused of stealing. “By virtue of Friday’s settlement, Councilmember Thomas has declined to offer a full accounting of his actions,” at-large Councilman David Catania said in a Saturday statement. “With such serious allegations unanswered and an on-going investigation by the U.S. Attorney, I believe that Councilmember Thomas should resign from the Council of the District of Columbia.”
Catania was joined in his call for Thomas to resign by Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh.
“It appears that [Thomas] inappropriately diverted public money intended for youth activities to his own benefit,” Cheh said. “This implicit acknowledgement will, I believe, make it very difficult for him to continue to effectively serve the citizens of the District, and, therefore, I hope he will seriously consider stepping off the Council.”
Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser said the settlement reflects poorly on the council.
The settlement will make it so “everything [Thomas] does will be questioned. …He needs to consider strongly the position he’s putting the entire body in and our ability to govern.”
D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan filed the lawsuit against Thomas in June, accusing Thomas of diverting to his wallet $300,000 meant for a youth baseball program. In the settlement, Thomas agreed to pay the city back by Dec. 12, 2013, but he also neither “admitted nor denied” any wrong doing. The U.S. Attorney’s office said its investigation into the matter will continue.
Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans said he found the settlement’s failure to require Thomas to admit guilt confusing.
“I’m puzzled by the settlement,” Evans told The Washington Examiner. “He has to payback the money, but there’s no indication that he did something wrong.”
Nathan said the lawsuit’s goal was not “punishment, but to secure the return of substantially all of the funds diverted from the District by Councilmember Thomas.”
Thomas did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday. On Friday, he issued a statement denying wrongdoing.
“The allegations in the Attorney General’s complaint about… a purposeful misuse of any funds are not true,” the statement said.
At-large Councilman Michael Brown supported Thomas.
“There’s no admission of guilt,” Brown said. “That could have been in any agreement. It speaks for itself.”
