Congress wades into HP probe

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Congress and federal investigators on Monday entered the fray surrounding Hewlett-Packard Co.’s possibly illegal probe of media leaks, as the company’s board planned to meet again to discuss the fate of its embattled chairwoman.

With the FBI, the U.S. Attorney for Northern California and the House Energy and Commerce Committee all joining the scandal swirling around HP’s Board of Directors, the resignation of Chairwoman Patricia Dunn seemed likely, one expert said.

“The right thing to do now is for her to step down, clear the air and let the company carry on,” said Roger Kay, who follows HP as president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a market research firm.

Hewlett-Packard’s board adjourned an emergency phone conference Sunday without announcing whether it would oust Dunn for her role in the investigation that may have used illegal means to obtain the personal phone records of colleagues and journalists. The board was scheduled to reconvene late Monday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the Congressional committee asked HP to turn over “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” – the practice of impersonating a person in order to access their personal information.

HP hired private investigators who used Social Security numbers and other personal information to impersonate HP directors and journalists. The impostors then tricked phone companies into turning over detailed logs of their home and cellular phone calls.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said last week that his office was investigating and had determined that HP’s probe broke two state laws governing and illegal access to computer records. It’s still unclear, however, whether the company or anyone acting on its behalf will face civil or criminal charges.

Now the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California have convened their own inquiry, issuing a statement Monday saying they were “investigating the processes employed in an investigation into possible sources of leaks.”

The Palo Alto-based maker of computers and printers said in a regulatory filing it was cooperating fully with the federal inquiry, along with the investigation by the state attorney general, which requested similar information.

An HP spokesman had no further comment.

Dunn ordered the outside investigation of fellow board members to determine who anonymously leaked information, especially as it related to the job status of former chief executive Carly Fiorina.