Recently GOP California gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner called the FBI over routine backroom comments by Mike Murphy, an aide to his rival, Meg Whitman.

Now Poizner’s campaign is taking issue with a line in Whitman’s new ad, in which the former eBay CEO says “the state is in the worst shape that I’ve seen in the 30 years that I have lived in California.” The gist: “Although the former EBay chief first moved to California nearly 30 years ago, in 1981, she has not lived in the state continuously since then.”

I think this is making a mountain out of a molehill, but I’ll let readers draw their own conclusions. Here’s the Poizner release on this controversy:

For Immediate Release

February 5, 2010

Meg Whitman Caught Stretching The Facts In TV AdMedia Picks Up On Whitman’s Inaccurate TV Ad:
Whitman “Immediately Hit A Bump By Misstating” How Long She Has Lived In California. “Republican Meg Whitman debuted her first television ad Thursday in her campaign for California governor, but she immediately hit a bump by misstating in the minute-long spot how long she’s lived in the Golden State.” (Jack Chang and Andrew McIntosh, “Whitman Ad Inflates Her Time In California,” Sacramento Bee, 2/5/10)
Watch Whitman’s Inaccurate Statement
Although Whitman Said In Her Ad, “Let’s Say What We Mean, Mean What We Say,” She Got “The One Figure She Cites In The Ad” Wrong. ”Meg Whitman’s first television ad hits the airwaves today — a 60-second spot in which she asserts: ‘Let’s say what we mean, mean what we say.’ But the one figure she cites in the ad is, well, wrong.” (Ken McLaughlin, “Fuzzy Math? Meg Whitman ’s First TV Commercial Exaggerates Her California Residency,” The [San Jose] Mercury News, 2/4/10)
The Sacramento Bee Found Through Public Records That Whitman Has Lived In The State “Well Short Of Three Decades.” “Public property and corporate records and business biographies indicate Whitman has lived in the state well short of three decades. Whitman’s campaign could not provide a detailed account of her time in the state on Thursday. The Bee was able to verify roughly 23 years of residency during her business career.” (Jack Chang and Andrew McIntosh, “Whitman Ad Inflates Her Time In California,” Sacramento Bee, 2/5/10)
The [San Jose] Mercury News Found That Whitman Has Lived In California For “Actually Closer To Two Decades.” “But quick checks of her biography in Marquis Who’s Who and other authoritative sources show it’s actually closer to two decades. In fact, Whitman told Lesley Stahl in a 2008 interview on the women’s site wowOwow.com that she’s ‘lived in California for nearly 20 years.’” (Ken McLaughlin, “Fuzzy Math? Meg Whitman’s First TV Commercial Exaggerates Her California Residency,” The [San Jose] Mercury News, 2/4/10)
For Inexplicable Reasons, The Whitman Campaign Declined To Specify When Whitman Moved Out Of California. “News reports have said she moved in 1992. The Whitman campaign declined to specify when she moved out of state.” (Shane Goldmacher, “Meg Whitman TV Ad Fudges On How Long She’s Lived In State,” Los Angeles Times’ “PolitiCal” Blog, latimesblogs.latimes.com, 2/4/10)
NOTE TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Whitman Told The Press In 1995 That Massachusetts Was A Better Place To Raise Her Family Than Southern California. ”‘It was the right thing to do for our family … a better place to raise the boys’ than Southern California, she told the Detroit Free Press in 1995 about the move to Massachusetts.” (Jack Chang and Andrew McIntosh, “Whitman Ad Inflates Her Time In California,” Sacramento Bee, 2/5/10)
Various Media Outlets Pick Up On Whitman’s Distortion:
Sacramento Bee: “Whitman Ad Inflates Her Time In California.” (Jack Chang and Andrew McIntosh, “Whitman Ad Inflates Her Time In California,” Sacramento Bee, 2/5/10)
The [San Jose] Mercury News: “Fuzzy Math? Meg Whitman’s First TV Commercial Exaggerates Her California Residency.” (Ken McLaughlin, “Fuzzy Math? Meg Whitman’s First TV Commercial Exaggerates Her California Residency,” The [San Jose] Mercury News, 2/4/10)
Los Angeles Times’ “PolitiCal” Blog: “Meg Whitman TV Ad Fudges On How Long She’s Lived In State.” (Shane Goldmacher, “Meg Whitman TV Ad Fudges On How Long She’s Lived In State,” Los Angeles Times’ “PolitiCal” Blog, latimesblogs.latimes.com, 2/4/10)

. . . Somebody really ought to call the FBI over this, don’t you think?