Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is standing by embattled County Assessor Joe Berrios as, once again, he finds himself the subject of nasty headlines.

But, reading between the lines, the by-the-book county chief isn't very happy that her political ally once again is on the hot seat.

The latest, of course, is testimony in federal court by a pair of county employees that Mr. Berrios was "in cahoots" with an alleged bribery scam.

Mr. Berrios has denied there is any truth to the testimony, terming it "bullshit" and "a total lie," and says he has not been questioned by federal investigators nor retained legal counsel in the matter. But after an earlier stink about hiring close relatives for his office, the matter is not helpful to Mr. Berrios, who also is the Cook County Democratic chairman.

What does Ms. Preckwinkle think? She criticized him — but did not overrule him — on the family hiring allegations, in part because he appears to have done a decent job as assessor.

"To be clear, the period under review predates President Preckwinkle's time as a county official and the president's office is not involved," Preckwinkle spokesman Owen Kilmer responded in an email. "Whenever misconduct is alleged, it raises concerns. We know what we've read in the paper."

The statement concludes, "We are not in a position to comment on the specifics of an ongoing court case."

Mr. Kilmer wouldn't elaborate on whether he intends to meet with Mr. Berrios or is asking him for a full report on the matter.

But the statement makes it clear Ms. Preckwinkle is watching — as are a lot of us. Let's see what else comes out in the continuing court case and whether the feds follow up on it with a wider probe.