Grand Old Police Blotter: It's A Family Affair Edition

When I first read this story, I didn't remember Joe Waldholtz. But soon it all came back.

Joseph P. Waldholtz, a former Republican strategist already on parole for embezzling nearly $4 million from his former father-in-law, was sentenced yesterday to three to 15 years in prison for forging insurance and Veterans Affairs checks from his stepmother and his late father.

After a nonjury trial before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, Waldholtz was found guilty Nov. 10 of three counts of theft and receiving stolen property, and four of 23 counts of forgery.

...

In November 1996, Waldholtz was sentenced to federal prison for election, tax and bank fraud. He was released in early 1999. He had been convicted in U.S. District Court of embezzling almost $4 million from the father of his wife, former U.S. Rep. Enid Greene, R-Utah, and putting much of it into her 1994 campaign for Congress.

Enid Greene Waldholtz was one of Newt Gingrich's Contract on America Pukes, who spent $1.8 million to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives:

Utah Congresswoman Enid Greene Waldholtz was considered a rising star in the Republican revolution that began in the fall elections of 1994. She was chosen by House Speaker Newt Gingrich for a seat on the House Rules Committee, the first time in seventy years that a freshman had been picked for that highly influential committee. She came to even greater national prominence when a scandal broke regarding the financing of her $1.8 million 1994 campaign, the most expensive House race in the country that year. One month ago, shortly after a federal investigation began, her husband and campaign treasurer, Joe Waldholtz, disappeared.

In other words, Greene made a name for herself in politics based on stolen campaign funds.

Greene did not run for reelection in 1996. But she has turned up again, like 180,000,000 bad pennies. Just last week, Utah Puke gubenatorial candidate Nolan Karras named Greene as his running mate:

Karras took a gamble, a smart one as it turned out Saturday, by picking former U.S. Rep. Enid Greene as his partner. Greene is popular among delegates who last year elected her party vice chairwoman. She is remembered by the general public for the campaign finance scandal involving her ex-husband, Joe Waldholtz in 1995. The debacle drove her from office after a single term and led to the best line of Saturday's convention: "I chose the wrong man once and I'm not about to do it again," she said to laughter and cheers from the crowd.

But will Utahn Pukes choose Greene, whose defense essentially was that she was too stupid to know that her campaign was being funded with stolen cash?