The District government has always had scandals — a crack-smoking mayor, an employee who embezzled tens of millions of dollars, cozy city contracts and the like.

But in 2012, federal prosecutors have taken particular aim at a wide swath of the city’s top leaders. The work of the feds, which is continuing, has already taken down two sitting members of the D.C. City Council, stained the mayor’s image and prompted guilty pleas from a half-dozen other political players.