Utah Congresswoman’s Husband Vanishes In D.C. Washington Post

The husband of freshman Rep. Enid Waldholtz, R-Utah, disappeared Saturday 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 in a statement issued by Waldholtz’s office. “He is obviously feeling considerable pressure as we continue to investigate his handling of the accounts for he and Enid.”

Until his disappearance from their Georgetown home, Joe 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, R-Utah, to win the seat that covers most of Salt Lake City.

She won acclaim from the incoming Republican House leadership when she became the first freshman to win a seat on the powerful Rules Committee in 70 years.

Earlier this year she became only the second congresswoman to give birth while in office. The Waldholtzes’ daughter, Elizabeth, is 2-1/2 months old.