Congresswoman’s Spouse Disappears Amid Probe : Politics: Investigation focuses on handling of Utah GOP Rep. Enid Waldholtz’s finances. She is not under suspicion, officials say.

The husband of freshman Rep. Enid Waldholtz (R-Utah) has disappeared amid burgeoning reports of irregularities in the handling of the congresswoman’s personal and campaign finances, Waldholtz’s office said Monday.

“We have asked for law enforcement help in this matter,” Enid Waldholtz’s brother-in-law Jim Parkinson said. “He is obviously feeling considerable pressure as we continue to investigate his handling” of his and Enid Waldholtz’s accounts. She is not under suspicion, a federal official said.

Until his disappearance Saturday from their Georgetown home, Joseph Waldholtz, 32, had handled the couple’s personal accounts and served as Waldholtz’s campaign treasurer and as a volunteer in his wife’s Washington office.

Parkinson said Waldholtz “has taken steps to remove Joe Waldholtz from involvement with her campaign organization and her congressional office, and is now handling all of her own personal accounts.”

The growing scandal surrounding the Waldholtzes has tarnished one of the House GOP’s more celebrated new members. Enid Waldholtz, 37, a former head of the 150,000-member Young Republican National Federation, won a close race over Rep. Karen Shepherd to win the seat that covers most of Salt Lake City.

Parkinson acknowledged there were both “internal and external investigations” into the couple’s finances, and that the internal investigation “may have prompted Joe Waldholtz’s actions.”

A Justice Department official said the FBI is investigating Joseph Waldholtz, but not Enid, for check kiting and other matters related to the couple’s personal finances. The official said Joseph Waldholtz indirectly found out about the investigation last week by talking to acquaintances, and disappeared after that. Officials said it was likely a federal warrant would be issued for his arrest.

Sources familiar with the investigation said federal authorities suspected Joseph Waldholtz of stealing as much as $2 million from bank accounts in his and his wife’s name.

Parkinson said Enid Waldholtz was cooperating with outside authorities and “has spearheaded her own investigation into the situation.” She has stopped answering questions about her finances.

Enid Greene married Waldholtz, a GOP political operative from the Pittsburgh area, in 1993 after losing to Shepherd in her first bid to win a House seat in 1992. She defeated Shepherd in a 1994 rematch but prompted cries of foul from Democrats who questioned the source of $1.8 million in personal funds she put into her campaign.