The news has reverberated around Prince George's County this afternoon: County Executive Jack Johnson was taken into custody by the FBI's corruption unit. He was arrested along with his wife, Leslie Johnson.

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The Johnsons' future will begin playing out in federal court this afternoon. It's still unclear exactly what charges will be brought against them.

Also unclear: The political future of Prince George's County.

What we do know is that the county executive-in-waiting, Rushern Baker, has promised to make “a good county great" — a slogan tied to his pledge to rid Prince George's of its corrupt past. His inauguration is less than a month away. 

While Baker isn’t implicated in the FBI’s case, the arrests of Prince George's first couple provide a reminder of just how much work he has set out for himself. Cleaning up the county's image as a bastion of poorly managed government requires erasing from memory all of its past lowlights. Some have come in the form of outright corruption; others in the form of merely unethical politics or bad form. Here's a brief inventory: 

• One of the county’s most prominent state senators, Ulysses Currie, is already under federal indictment for charges that include bribery and extortion. Currie had chaired the powerful Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

• Former U.S. Rep. Al Wynn resigned after losing the Democratic primary to Rep. Donna Edwards. Wynn, who liberals considered a corporate shill, almost immediately joined the powerful Washington law and lobbying firm Dickstein Shapiro LLP.

• Former Schools Superintendent Andre Hornsby was convicted in 2008 and sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a scheme in which kickbacks on school contracts where given to his live-in girlfriend.

• A Washington Post investigation found that during Johnson's first term, $3.3 million in county contracts were awarded to 15 of his friends.

How does Baker view this latest chapter in Prince George's history with the feds? How does he plan to move beyond the stain of a raid on county offices?

The county executive-elect is apparently going to let his constituents wait on that front. Contacted this afternoon, Baker spokesman James Adams said: “I’m really tied up and can’t talk to you now. Bye, bye.” He then hung up the phone.

Adams later told TBD’s Bruce DePuyt that Baker wouldn’t be commenting on the developments.

One issue that Baker will have to address is how he'll move forward with the county council. Five of the nine councilmembers Baker is set to serve with are new to the panel. One of them is Leslie Johnson, of District 6.

Even if all the new councilmembers are squeaky clean, Johnson's arrest only adds to the perception of corruption in Prince George's. And that corruption makes residents more distrustful of their government and businesses less likely to move to the county.

“For years, there has been a pay-to-play mentality in Prince George’s County,” a law enforcement source told ABC7. “We’ve got to put an end to that.”