Greg Hughes remembers the incident back in 1988, when his friend Joe Waldholtz told him how impressed he was with the way he dressed.
"He gave me his Gold Card and asked that I go to an expensive men's story and buy him some ties - use my judgment on what was good. I remember he said: `Don't buy any tie under $100.' I was a young kid and really impressed. He said: `Just sign my name to the charge, it's OK.' So I did. I bought 10 ties or so and signed his name."Hughes said he saw Joe do the same with others - and sometimes told them to keep something they bought for themselves, which built his reputation as a generous big spender.
Hughes says he didn't think much about it until recently when he read Waldholtz sometimes refused to pay credit card bills, claiming someone had stolen them, and noted that signatures for purchases didn't come close to matching his.
That's one of myriad stories about strange small acts by Joe - the estranged husband of Rep. Enid Waldholtz, R-Utah - that may lend credence to tales of his supposed big fraud, such as his alleged embezzlement of millions from his grandmother and Enid's family, possibly faking campaign disclosure forms and allegedly kiting checks.
He is scheduled to appear in court in Washington Wednesday, where a judge will rule whether he must appear before a grand jury investigating the possible big fraud - even though Waldholtz's lawyer said last week that Joe plans to remain silent to avoid incriminating himself.
Following are other stories about smaller strange acts that have emerged over the past couple of weeks (including some that have been reported previously):
- Even though Joe was raised Jewish, he often told others he was Episcopalian. Some who knew his childhood background told the Deseret News they wondered if he had converted.
Some say such stories started when he worked for the campaign of George Bush (an Episcopalian) and for Bush's cousin, Pennsylvania National Republican Committeewoman Elsie Hillman. Court records filed in Pittsburgh in the past year, however, say in passing that he is still Jewish.
- Two friends of Enid recall that when she flew with Joe to Pittsburgh in 1992 to meet his parents, he put her up in a hotel - saying he was embarrassed for her to see his family's big house and all its servants because that just wasn't him.
Enid met his parents and told him she really wanted to see the house. So he took her for a drive through an expensive neighborhood. She asked which house was his, and he said they had passed it a few minutes ago. He said he was too embarrassed to point it out, but it was like all the other houses in the area.
Friends said Enid reported she was impressed with how down-to-earth he was. However, Joe's family is not rich and has no servants. His father is a dentist.
Meanwhile, Joe gave his family the impression that Enid was not interested in staying with them - and she never did visit their home. Harvey Waldholtz, Joe's father, said they were expected to visit several different times but Joe always canceled because of some important business.
- The Associated Press quoted friends saying Joe said that as a teenager, he worked at an Arby's fast-food restaurant - but only as a lark because he didn't need the money.
He also told them his stockbroker would interrupt him on his shift to talk to him on the phone, and his employer didn't like it.
- The Utah home of Joe and Enid is in a subdivision that was featured several years in a row in the Parade of Homes (although their home itself was not). Some neighbors said when the Wald-holtzes decided not to cook, they sometimes had a meal brought in from an expensive, nearby restaurant.
But they say simple takeout from that restaurant is unavailable, so a couple of times Joe had the meal catered to their home.
- Joe was a hit last summer at a rummage sale raising money for Salt Laker Linda Nichol's liver transplant, where he pledged a $1,000 donation.
When it hadn't come after several weeks, Shannon Hildenbrand - who helped organize fund-raising events for Nichols - called Waldholtz's office to drop a reminder. "I was told he sent a check and that it must have gotten lost in the mail. He said he would send another," Hildenbrand said. It still hadn't arrived months later.
- Joe and Enid rented a posh Georgetown town house in Washington, which was once the home of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. But Mike Fink, lawyer for landlord Richard A. Simon, says they have been threatened with eviction twice for falling behind as much as $15,000 in rent.
The landlord has said Joe sometimes refused to pay the $3,800-a-month rent claiming that the roof leaked or that the toilet would not flush.
- Similarly, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that on the couple's honeymoon, Joe refused to pay for the couple's honeymoon stay at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel because of leakage in the room during a storm.
The hotel later filed a complaint alleging fraud and theft of services, but it was dropped three months later.
Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told the Deseret News editorial board Monday that he called Enid and Joe into his office several weeks ago and told Enid that Joe had to get out of her office (where Joe was serving as an unpaid aide) and totally out of campaign finances.
Hatch said he first talked to Joe and Enid together. He wanted to make an impression, so, says Hatch: "I looked Joe in the eye and said maybe he was going to prison." Hatch says Joe kind of jumped back in his chair and "blinked his eyes" quickly at the remark.
Enid promised Hatch she'd take care of everything. As they left his office, Hatch said he pulled Enid back in for a quick private moment. "I told her I was serious, that Joe had to go (out of the office). She said she loved Joe very much and trusted him completely. She said she trusted him more than anyone else in the world." But Enid did promise Hatch she'd get to the bottom of the personal and campaign finance problems and promised to get Joe out of the office as well.
She didn't get Joe out of the office or off of campaign accounts immediately, however, at least not until Joe ran away Nov. 11.