While we have a brief break between the breaking news regarding D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.’s being sued for inappropriately spending city money and the upcoming testimony of Cherita Whiting and Sulaimon Brown, it feels appropriate to highlight the work done by Paul Schwartzman and Ovetta Wiggins in this long piece on the rise and fall of former Prince George’s County executive Jack Johnson.

One tasty excerpt:

Toward the end of Johnson’s first term, a high-ranking colleague told [former Johnson senior advisor Alfonso] Cornish that the county executive had predicted that he would become wealthy before leaving office.

“That’s when I knew I had to get out,” said Cornish, who resigned in 2006. “I’m probably the only person who left who said, ‘He’s going to jail.’ You have a sixth sense about things.”

Some foresight there: Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced in September and faces up to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal extortion and evidence tampering charges in May.