GOPer Sandoval Hit With Allegations Of Hiring Illegal Immigrant (VIDEO)

Nevada Gov. candidate Brian Sandoval (R)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Brian Sandoval, the Republican nominee for governor of Nevada, now has a new political headache on his hands: A woman from Guatemala who claims that she worked as a housekeeper for Sandoval and his wife years ago – when she was an illegal immigrant.

As the local CBS affiliate in Las Vegas reports, on the claims being made by Ana Padilla:

She claims then-state Assemblyman Brian Sandoval’s wife Kathleen hired her after Padilla handed out business cards in their neighborhood October 1996.

“The checks were signed by Mrs. Kathleen and the checks had Brian Sandoval and Kathleen Sandoval’s name, address and phone,” she said.

But Padilla has no documented proof of those checks. She claims she was told Bank of America only allows access to those records up to seven years. Padilla says she was paid $40 to clean the Sandoval house every Monday.

The Sandoval campaign responded in a strongly worded statement, denying that they ever knew Padilla: “Brian and Kathleen do not know this person. Obviously, this is another desperate and dishonest attack by Rory Reid’s failing campaign. It is further proof that Rory will say anything to get elected.”

The campaign of Democratic nominee Rory Reid, son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, responded:

“Ana did contact our campaign a few weeks back…Our campaign spoke with her at length, collected some of her documents, and … we had an attorney look into it,” Trask said, in an interview with CBSNews.com.

“To be frank, we thought Ana’s story was compelling and we were looking into it,” Trask continued. “Ana asked to be put in contact with media members. Basically, I gave her number to a couple local reporters and said, ‘this woman has a tip.’ … The way the story ended up coming out last night frankly had nothing to do with our actions whatsoever.”

All in all, this story doesn’t appear to be as strong as the illegal maid story that is haunting Meg Whitman in the California gubernatorial race. For one thing, Whitman does not deny ever hiring her ex-maid in the first place. That said, the story surely can’t be helpful to Sandoval, either.

The TPM Poll Average gives Sandoval a lead of 55.1%-36.4%.

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: