Republican Meg Whitman's former maid said Tuesday she's not a Democratic pawn in California's race for governor, but her attorney refused again to provide key details about her claims that Whitman employed her for nearly a decade despite knowing she was in the U.S. illegally.

Nicky Diaz Santillan, a Mexican who Whitman says used a fraudulently obtained Social Security card and California driver's license, dismissed claims by the GOP nominee that she was part of a Democratic smear intended to damage Whitman's standing with voters, particularly Latinos.

"I make my own decisions and I am not anyone's puppet," Diaz Santillan said in a prepared statement she read at the Los Angeles office of her attorney, Gloria Allred. "Nobody made me do it."

Allred, who has longtime Democratic ties and donated money to Brown when he ran for attorney general , has yet to disclose details about how she became involved in the case or disclose who, if anyone, is picking up the bill for her legal work.

Allred says Diaz Santillan was referred to her by another lawyer, whom she will not name. Allred didn't answer directly when asked if that lawyer had ties to Whitman's opponent, Democrat Jerry Brown, or his Democratic allies.