Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Trouble

 Good news:

Two high-ranking Maricopa County officials confirmed late Thursday that they will testify next week before a federal grand jury exploring allegations that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has abused power.

County Manager David Smith and Assistant County Manager Sandi Wilson said they were preparing to testify before the grand jury on Wednesday.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio denied any knowledge of the grand jury, but news of sheriff's officials being called to testify before a federal panel has been circulating in county circles for months.

"I'm not going to comment on that situation," Arpaio said Thursday. "We're just going to continue doing our job and our investigations that we have in progress."

Sheriff's detectives have undertaken a series of controversial investigations into county officials in the last year which heated up in recent months with indictments of two members of the Board of Supervisors, and a wide-ranging racketeering complaint filed in federal court that alleges a vast conspiracy against county supervisors, judges, private attorney and administrators including Smith and Wilson.

But the allegations of abuse of power have dogged Arpaio since long before that claim was filed.