Whitman: I'll Take A Polygraph Test About Undocumented Maid

Republican Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign in California has been rocked by allegations that she knowingly hired an undocumented worker as a housekeeper.

Whitman has categorically denied that she knew Nicky Diaz Santillan lacked papers. Gloria Allred, Santillan's lawyer, claims Whitman is lying and insists she has the evidence to prove it. Allred told George Stephanopoulous on GMA:

I told the press that there was a 2003 letter that was sent by the Social Security Administration -- what's called a mismatch letter -- indicating to the employer that there was a mismatch in the Social Security number that was provided by the employee.

Whitman denies ever having seen this letter and said she would be willing to take a polygraph test to prove her that she was "really stunned" to discover Santillan's undocumented status just last year: "If it comes to that, I would be delighted to do that." She said it's possible that Santillan hid the letter from her.

Whitman accused her Democratic opponent Jerry Brown of being behind the whole story in an effort to smear her.

The AP reports on how these accusations have become a major distraction for her campaign:

The immigration flap has served as a major headache for Whitman in her tight race against Brown. They are in a dead heat according to the latest polls, despite Whitman having spent nearly $120 million of her fortune so far.

Whitman has called for tougher sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers, and the allegations could undercut her credibility just weeks before Election Day and damage her image, particularly with Hispanics she has pursued for months.

When asked why she didn't turn the former employee into authorities, Whitman said "I was very fond of Nicky and I didn't want to make an example of her." She said her current housekeeper is "absolutely documented to work there."

For more on this race, click here.

Comments

[old timer 37]

06:44 PM on 10/08/2010

A polygraph test for a politician... now there's a novel idea! As I remember there has to be a baseline of truth to reference in order to detect a lie.... how on earth would the examiner do that for Meg?

Perhaps truth serum is a better idea.....

[academy1]

12:55 AM on 10/06/2010

Ok Meg--we are waiting for this polygraph test. testing.....waiting.....where are the results you angry, mean, cheating fraud

I hope she doesn't pay for the outcome in her favor.

[GreenAmbition]

06:21 PM on 10/04/2010

Back in the early1930's my Grandmother cleaned homes in the pursuit of her goal to owning her own business which she eventually did as a truck stop owner. Meg, if you can allow someone to CLEAN your American home, they should be afforded the opportunity under your employ to BE an American citizen under your sponsorship and character testimony. Meg Whitman is part of the something for nothing crowd. BOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOOO.

[larryt700]

01:44 PM on 10/03/2010

What boggles my mind is that LEFTY communists want amnesty, jobs and everything else for illegals, yet trounces on a conservative that gave an illegal a job, even though she didn't know that she was illegal.... Seems like Whitman should be a hero to these hypocrits!

[GreenAmbition]

06:40 PM on 10/04/2010

Lefty? Dubya aka POTUS #43 "They do jobs Americans just won't do." Please, explain that sentiment.

http://www.slate.com/id/2157483

[larryt700]

01:41 PM on 10/03/2010

So what did Whitman do wrong?

Pay someone she thought was legal a fair wage?

Take someone's WORD (latino) that they were legal and had a legitimate social security number?

HOW IN THE WORLD IS THIS ILLEGAL A VICTIM????????

HOW????

Poor illegal lied, crossed the border, was working illegally, lied to her boss and is not being USED BY THE LEFT AS A PAWN????

I'm sorry but if this is all you got, then WHITMAN will likely be the next governor. Jerry Brown already had his chance and took it to screw up California, which he did with zeal. Take a look at why California went from 17 prisons to 33....

JERRY BROWN!!!!

[Guytar]

12:34 PM on 10/03/2010

Lots of rich people in California are worried about what happened to Meg Whitman.

[Derek Kitchen]

07:40 PM on 10/02/2010

I suppose it's safe to say that this is the October Surprise of 2010. Hope the $120 million was well spent, Meg, when you're sitting at home on November 5th without a job. I wonder if any hispanic, legal or not, will clean your home after this fiasco.

[James Bentley]

12:24 PM on 10/02/2010

Why is it that nobody on the news is aware of the fact that polygraphs don't work? She may as well try to prove her innocence with a horoscope!

[cornel]

01:47 PM on 10/02/2010

Polygraph combined with Pentothal works. She should volunteer to also get anything above 10cc of Pentothal, then I would believe her ;)

[larryt700]

01:48 PM on 10/03/2010

LOL, seems to me that Whitman's story is the only one that MAKES SENSE!!!! Is her former maid victimized because she wasn't found out earlier???????

I mean seriously!!!! HOW IN THE HELL IS THIS ILLEGAL A VICTIM????

[Guytar]

12:40 PM on 10/03/2010

Nobody on the news is aware that CSI is science fiction.

[MSMSucksCom]

01:10 AM on 10/02/2010

You know the day this exploded, when Allred had the first news conference, my friend in L.A. commented that night how she was surprised that the news and pundits did not give it much coverage.

I told her it was because the story was too fresh and everyone had yet to digest the story and get it ready for the shows.

Yesterday and today EVERYONE has been talking about it. And I can say the concesus is that Meg is a creep and that she is finished.

I have to say, this validated the "October Surprise" theory, albeit it started in September.

Tomorrow (Saturday) Meg has a debate in Fresno, it's for the HIspanic community and will be broadcast in Spanish with English subtitles. I have to ask, does Whitman realize that there's nothing she can say to salvage the loss of the Hispanic vote.

Does Meg realize that to Hispanics she showed her true colors when she turned on Nicky, actually acusing her of stealing U.S. Mail.

And Hispanics can relate to Nicky's situation, working for slave wages because she really needed the job.

Hispanics also are angered at Whitman because she told Nicky she would not help her and that "You don't know me, I don't know you and don't try to contact my kids."

The Hispanic community is not concerned with nor do they care about SSA letters.

[TuoulumneFlower]

10:57 AM on 10/02/2010

The bottom line to me is that Whitman has spent $119,000,000.00 in her effort to buy the California governorship, but she's so clueless she didn't bother to take care of her little brown housekeeper. Instead she thought unceremoniously firing her and saying "I don't know you (who took care of my children for nine years) and you don't know me" would wrap it all up.

This is not the kind of executive decision making we need in California...

[mistykane]

08:31 PM on 10/02/2010

This is getting unbelievable. Nobody here is able to see that this is all political. Meg Whitman is sent a maid from an employment agency, she paid her $23/hr and treated her like family for 9 years. If at any time Meg discovered she was illegal, she decided not to turn her over to ICE. ICE wouldn't have done anything because by order of the DOJ, they are only actively pursuing cases where the illegal has committed another crime. They won't even shut down the sanctuary cities. All of a sudden people who normally want to protect illegals anyway are calling for Megs head. Unbelievable!

[TuoulumneFlower]

10:32 AM on 10/03/2010

It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

[SolarArray]

11:40 PM on 10/01/2010

Her chances now are slim and none and slim just left town.

[Guytar]

12:51 PM on 10/03/2010

Adios Slim.

[MyOwnPerson172]

09:58 PM on 10/01/2010

She knows she doesn't have a pulse and cannot fail a lie detector test.

[Cowboylove]

09:22 PM on 10/01/2010

Now that Gloria Allred has produced the letter with Meg and her husbands handwriting on it - what happens to Meg's story that they never received the letter and imagine the maid stole it?

[BocaMom]

09:10 PM on 10/01/2010

Who cares? Would you rather let Jerry Brown run the state of California further into the ground???
I would vote for Meg 10 times over Jerry Brown!

[MyOwnPerson172]

09:54 PM on 10/01/2010

You'll have to to get this ruination of California elected. Jerry Brown's California was a true Golden Age and currently wouldn't be run for Meg's aggrandizement.

[kaptaintripps]

08:40 PM on 10/01/2010

Oh, Meg--honey--from the Land of the White Wrinkled Rich: you should have taken a polygraph years ago.

[SatiricalGenius]

07:33 PM on 10/01/2010

What is the #1 statement used by a person when they are lying but want to appear that they are not lying and can prove it? Survey says... "I'll take a polygraph test."