TMCnet News

Hewlett-Packard probe widens; no decision yet on fate of chairwoman in light of leaks probe
[September 12, 2006]

Hewlett-Packard probe widens; no decision yet on fate of chairwoman in light of leaks probe


By JORDAN ROBERTSON Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

With lawmakers and federal investigators circling, the future of Hewlett-Packard (News - Alert) Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn remained uncertain early Tuesday.

HP's board met again Monday night to discuss whether Dunn should remain chairwoman of the Silicon Valley giant following her role in the company's possibly illegal investigation to root out media leaks. No decision was announced on Dunn's fate by late Monday.



The Palo Alto-based maker of computers and printers has been under intense scrutiny because of Dunn's leak investigation. On Monday, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney for Northern California and the House Energy and Commerce Committee joined the California attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission in investigating the HP scandal.

Dunn, a former freelance journalist who has become one of the most powerful women in corporate America, was angry about the leaks and commissioned outside investigators to identify their source.


The investigators used Social Security numbers to impersonate HP directors and journalists and get phone companies to turn over detailed logs of their home phone calls. The tactic -- known as "pretexting" -- is used frequently by private investigators but tests the bounds of California law.

The probe identified director George Keyworth II as a source of the leaks, and the board asked him to resign. He refused, and HP then barred him from seeking re-election.

His ouster riled another board member, longtime Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tom Perkins, 74, who resigned and stormed out of the May 18 meeting.

Perkins has called on Dunn to resign.

FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said in an interview with The Associated Press in San Francisco that the bureau was investigating two possible crimes: illegal computer intrusion and wiretapping. He did not give a timetable for when the inquiry would be completed.

The U.S. Attorney's office also issued a statement saying it was "investigating the processes employed in an investigation into possible sources of leaks."

The Congressional committee gave HP a week to name the private firm it hired to investigate the leaks and to turn over all "records and information related to the company's reported effort to obtain private phone records." The request was made as part of the panel's ongoing investigation into pretexting.

HP said in a regulatory filing that it was cooperating fully with the federal inquiry, along with the investigation by California's attorney general, who has said HP's investigation violated state law but not whether Dunn or anyone else would face criminal charges.

The nine reporters whose phone records were compromised are Pui-Wing Tam and George Anders of The Wall Street Journal; Peter Burrows, Ben Elgin and Roger Crockett of BusinessWeek; John Markoff of The New York Times; and Dawn Kawamoto, Tom Krazit and Stephen Shankland of CNET Networks (News - Alert) Inc.'s News.com.

Investigators hired by HP also targeted Thomas Shankland, a semiretired geophysicist in Los Alamos, N.M., who is Stephen Shankland's father. The younger Shankland is married to Associated Press reporter Rachel Konrad, who has also covered HP.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Liedtke and Scott Lindlaw in San Francisco and Ted Bridis in Washington contributed to this report.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]