Meg Whitman is notorious for staging town hall meetings. But two weeks before we published police reports from her son's felony battery arrest, Meg fielded a question about family members "run[ning] afoul of the law." She evaded it.

A clip from the town hall—in which Whitman stands before a John Deere tractor in Modesto, CA—landed on YouTube. The videographer films his knee while he asks, "Have you or anyone in your family ever been arrested or run afoul of the law?" The camera swings up to Whitman's face as she laughs at the question, then answers half of it: "I have not actually. I have had a few traffic tickets, but that doesn't count for the arrests. So, no, I have not."

We reached out to the videographer but got no response. (Who asked the question, and why? Did Meg say anything after the video cuts off?) Write-ups from this town hall make no mention of the arrest question, suggesting Whitman didn't elaborate much further than this perfunctory answer. Of course, our knowledge of the event is limited to the video clip available. At the time, son Griff Harsh's arrest for assaulting a woman at a bar wasn't public knowledge, which is probably why no one took note of or further probed this town hall question. But surely Whitman—who cites raising her sons when she explains why she didn't even register to vote until seven years ago—would like to add context now? On the record? We're all ears. [via JustAnotherBlogfromLA]

Previously: Billionaire Bad Boys: Meg Whitman's Son's Arrest for Beating Up a Girl