Lawmakers scold HP, top lawyer resigns
590286
U.S. lawmakers said Hewlett-Packard   Co. HPQ.N relied on scant legal backing to obtain private   telephone records in a probe of boardroom leaks, as three   former executives refused to testify on Thursday about the   company investigation.
644305
Baskins invokes the Fifth Amendment as House subcommittee lambastes HP executives.
635499
Hewlett-Packard Co. on Thursday said  its general counsel, Ann Baskins, had resigned, effective  immediately, ahead of a U.S. House of Representatives hearing  on the company's methods in investigating boardroom leaks.
381035
(InfoWorld) - A U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee probing theÂ Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) pretexting case has issued more subpoenas to compel witness testimony at a Thursday hearing. The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Energy and Commerce Committee issued subpoenas Wednesday for five people identified as "pretexters," data brokers who sometimes obtain access to confidential records under false pretenses. HP has been embroiled in a scandal over its hiring of private investigators who engaged in possibly illegal pretexting to investigate news leaks from HP's board to reporters. Served with subpoenas, according to the Subcommittee, are: Bryan Wagner, a private investigator from Littleton, Colorado; Charles Kelly, of the CAS Agency in Villa Rica, Georgia; Cassandra Selvage of Eye in the Sky Investigations, of Dade City, Florida; Darren Brost, of Austin, Texas; and Valerie Preston from InSearchOf Inc., of Cooper City, Florida. Wagner was identified in a Wednesday Wall Street Journal article as a suspect in the pretexting of phone records of HP directors, employees and journalists who cover the Palo Alto, California technology company. The Journal reported that Wagner told an investigator that he smashed his computer to pieces with a hammer, destroying data that was saved on it. The article also said that the destruction of the computer may hamper an investigation by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office into possible illegal activity by people at HP or by the private investigators HP hired. The five who were subpoenaed Wednesday have been added to a list of witnesses that also includes HP's Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Hurd and former board chairman Patricia Dunn, who resigned last Friday because of the scandal. While Dunn and Hurd have volunteered to appear, two other HP executives involved in the investigation were subpoenaed: senior counsel Kevin Hunsaker and Global Security Manager Anthony Gentilucci. Hunsaker "left the company" and Gentilucci "resigned" effective Tuesday, said HP spokesman Ryan Donovan. Also subpoenaed are Ron DeLia, operator of Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc., a Needham, Massachusetts, private investigations firm, and Joe Depante, owner of Action Research Group, of Melbourne, Florida. HP has acknowledged hiring both those firms in its leak investigation and that they used pretexting to track down personal phone records. Â
556247
Outraged Democrats called for the resignation of senior Republican lawmaker Tom DeLay for a &quot;disturbing pattern of corruption&quot; following his censure by a House ethics panel.
266771
(InfoWorld) - Like a good friend who has just gotten out of a terrible relationship, Hewlett-Packard seemed to be on the rebound and all the happier for it in recent months. After the departure of controversial CEO Carly Fiorina, the company has as of late shown newfound confidence and focus under new CEO Mark Hurd. But allâs still not well in the higher echelons of HP, as revealed in a filing the company made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The sudden and unexpected resignation of Silicon Valley venture capitalist Thomas Perkins from HPâs board of directors in May turned into a full-blown scandal last week, spawning law enforcement and SEC investigations and a PR nightmare for HP. At the center of the controversy is a legally and ethically questionable internal investigation of leaks of confidential company information to the media dating back to 2005. According to a copy of a letter from Perkins to the HP board explaining his sudden resignation, and republished on thesmokinggun.comâs Web site (a sure sign, if ever there was one, that youâre in the PR doghouse), HP hired outside companies to obtain personal phone records of board members using âpretextingâ (thatâs âsocial engineeringâ to you and me), in which a private investigator impersonated board members to obtain details of private phone company billing statements. In his letter, Perkins says he has proof that his own phone records were âhackedâ in the investigation. Those investigations ultimately fingered George Keyworth, an HP director since 1986, as the source of information about board deliberations and other confidential information, which were leaked to the media without authorization. Keyworth acknowledged he had leaked information at a board meeting on May 18 but refused the boardâs request to step down. Perkins announced his own resignation at that meeting, citing âpersonal frustrationâ with board Chairwoman Patricia Dunn over the handling of the leak investigation. In the meantime, the dispute has spilled over into the public domain. The attorney general of California asked HP to supply information about the leak investigation. The SEC has also been in touch over the 8-K filing HP made when Perkins resigned. HP believes its disclosures in May were âaccurate and complete.â In an Aug. 31 meeting, HPâs board of directors determined that Keyworth shouldnât be nominated for another term on the board.
526837
A political tempest over the mass firing of federal prosecutors escalated yesterday with allegations from the departing U.S. attorney in New Mexico, who said that two members of Congress attempted to pressure him to speed up a probe of Democrats just before the November elections.
97463
A member of the Republican leadership added his name to the list of GOP lawmakers calling for Rep. Bob Ney to resign.
297650
HP was blasted by legislators this week, but corporate customers say the boardroom leak scandal is a minor distraction, and they still back CEO Mark Hurd.
718873
Ann Baskins, general counsel for embattled computer maker Hewlett-Packard, resigned from the company Thursday.
17217
The top Republican in the U.S. House of  Representatives, Dennis Hastert, will meet reporters at 1 p.m.  (1700 GMT) as he faces calls for his resignation over the  handling of a sex scandal involving a fellow Republican  Congressman who resigned.
442666
Hewlett-Packard broke federal laws when it did not tell investors why a director had abruptly resigned during an inquiry into boardroom leaks last year.
554938
(InfoWorld) - Another top Hewlett-Packard executive will leave the company, with HP's announcement on Thursday that its general counsel, Ann Baskins, has resigned, effective immediately. It is unclear how closely involved Baskins, who worked for HP for 24 years, was in theÂ internal investigation scandalÂ plaguing HP. The company is being investigated for potentially using illegally methods in its hunt to uncover an internal source leaking information to the press. HP's chairman of the board hasÂ already resignedÂ and other top executives including a senior counsel and the global security manager have left the company since the scandal erupted. Baskins is among many top officials at HP that a U.S. House of Representatives SubcommitteeÂ has subpoenaed, requiring them to testify as part of the committee's investigation Thursday.
734171
Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd announced Friday that Chairman Patricia Dunn has resigned from HP's board because of the fallout from the company's probe of leaks to the media. But Hurd also confirmed that he approved a misinformation campaign as part of the probe.
701796
Hewlett-Packard Co.  said on  Tuesday Chairman Patricia Dunn will step down on January 18,  2007, after coming under fire for ordering a controversial  board investigation into leaks to the media.
363666
The congressman abruptly quit on Friday after reports surfaced that heÂd sent sexually charged electronic messages to boys working as pages.
273838
Hewlett-Packard Co.'s CEO, Mark Hurd, and former board chairman Patricia Dunn this morning faced an angry congressional subcommittee looking into the legality of efforts by HP to plug boardroom leaks.