Is the D.C. Council committed to an unimpeachable standard of integrity? What’s the power of its institutional mettle? The answers to those questions won’t come simply from its initial approval Monday of the Government Accountability Establishment and Ethics Reform Amendment Act of 2011. The most important testimony will be provided by its reaction to the FBI and Internal Revenue Service raid last week of Harry Thomas Jr.’s home

The raid came months after D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan accused the Ward 5 legislator, in a lengthy and detailed civil lawsuit, with diverting for his personal use $300,000 of taxpayer funds meant for disadvantaged youth. The lawsuit also said Thomas solicited illegally funds from companies doing business with the city, including Horning Brothers, Abdo Development, EYA, Comcast, Unity Health Care, and the Jair Lynch Company. Prohibited by law from prosecuting certain cases, the AG referred the Thomas matter for possible criminal action to U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.