Harry Thomas, Jr.

Harry "Tommy" Thomas Jr. (born November 2, 1960), is a Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. In 2006 he was elected to represent Ward 5 on the Council of the District of Columbia and served until his resignation just prior to pleading guilty to felony charges in January 2012.

Thomas is the son of late three-term Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Sr. and former D.C. Public School principal Romaine B. Thomas. Councilmember Thomas attended D.C. public schools and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. He holds a degree in Public Relations/Marketing from Bowie State University. Thomas was Vice President of Public Affairs for the Public Benefits Corporation (formerly D.C. General Hospital).

Thomas is a former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, and has served as Chair of the Woodridge Health Clinic. He is a past President of the D.C. Young Democrats and a former At-Large elected member of the D.C. Democratic State party, for which he coordinated local and national events. Councilmember Thomas has worked for the national Democratic Party, holding the office of Treasurer. He has also served as the Adult and Youth Chair of the Neighborhood Planning Council. Councilmember Thomas is a member of the YMCA, NAACP, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and Woodridge Boys and Girls Club.

On September 12, 2006, Thomas won the Democratic primary for Ward 5 council member with 39 percent of the vote, beating 10 other candidates. The previous Ward 5 member, Vincent Orange, ran for mayor rather than running for reelection. On November 7, 2006, Thomas won the general election with 85 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2010.

On June 6, 2011, the D.C. Attorney General released a report accusing Thomas of diverting public funds for personal use. Thomas was accused of using $300,000 in city grants that were earmarked for charity and youth baseball groups to pay for his personal expenses, including golfing vacations and an SUV, which was later seized by the FBI on December 2, 2011, in an ongoing investigation. Those baseball groups included the councilmember's own group, Team Thomas - although the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs revoked corporate registration for Team Thomas in 2009, and the Internal Revenue Service never recognized it as a charity. A civil lawsuit filed against him by the district's attorney general was settled in July 2011 when Thomas agreed to repay the $300,000 in six installments over the next three years. Following this agreement, Thomas remained on the council and continued to maintain he was innocent of criminal behavior as the United States Attorney's Office continued to investigate the case.

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