Gloria Allred at Thursday's press conference

Meg Whitman knew since 2003 that she and her husband were employing an undocumented worker as a maid, lawyer Gloria Allred alleges, and on Thursday she provided evidence she thinks proves it.

Whitman has denied the allegations.

The maid, Nicandra Diaz-Santillan, spoke at a press conference Wednesday. At another news conference at Allred's Santa Monica office on Thursday, Allred presented what she claims is proof that Whitman is lying. 

Allred's evidence, and her reasoning for why that evidence is important, goes as follows:

On Thursday, Allred distributed photocopies to the press of a letter that the Social Security Administration sent to Whitman and her husband, Griffith Harsh. The letter says that Diaz-Santillan wrote an incorrect social security number on an employment form.

"A mismatch of a Social Security number to an employee's name is a clue that the employee may be undocumented," Allred read in a statement.

There is a handwritten note on the back of the social security letter that says, "Nicky Please check this Thanks."  Allred alleges that Whitman's husband is the person who wrote the note.   A reporter asked Allred if she would consult a handwriting expert to verify this.  Allred deflected the question by saying that Diaz-Santillan could verify that it was Harsh's handwriting. 

Other reporters asked if there was proof that Whitman had seen the letter. Wasn't it possible that Whitman's husband saw it, but didn't show it to her, they asked.  To answer this, Allred pointed to a quote that Whitman gave the New York Times on September 29th; "We never received that notification."

Whitman's use of the word "we," as opposed to the word "I," was crucial to Allred's argument. By Allred's reasoning,  Whitman's husband had clearly seen the letter, so the fact that Whitman chose to use the pronoun "we," rather than "I," meant that Whitman was lying.

 Whitman, meanwhile, has said that Diaz-Santillan could have intercepted the letter and decided to hide it.  

While Allred read her statement Thursday before a conference room packed with reporters, Diaz-Santillan quietly looked on. 

Allred compared her client to Rosa Parks and insisted that her only motivation was to help undocumented workers all over America. She praised Diaz-Santillan's heroism, prompting one reporter to clap.

Other reporters, however, seemed skeptical that Allred was basing her argument on the pronoun "we" and on a vague, handwritten note.

But Allred said that more evidence will come, if necessary. She said she would hold another news conference with more hard proof if Whitman continues to deny the allegations. Allred did not specify what that proof would be.  

"What time tomorrow?" a reporter jokingly asked Allred at the end of the conference.

After speaking with reporters, Allred walked to a private conference room. When the door opened, Diaz-Santillan could be seen crying inside.

Whitman's campaign has not yet responded to media questions about the letter.  

Reach reporter Amy Silverstein here.

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