New York Times on HP spy scandal
Following Mark Hurd's Friday press conference and the testimony of his personal lawyer Michael Holston....The New York Times adds to the story ...
From NYT: Chairwoman Leaves Hewlett in Spying Furor
By DAMON DARLIN and MATT RICHTEL
. . . His voice shaking, Mr. Hurd said a review of the means used to trace leaks from the company’s board had produced “very disturbing” findings. He also conceded that “I could have, and I should have,” read a report prepared for him while the operation was under way.
. . .Two executives who supervised the effort were also reported to be leaving.
. . . Mr. Hurd took no questions, with the company saying he did not want to pre-empt his testimony next week to a House subcommittee looking into the Hewlett-Packard affair.
. . . Ms. Dunn said she had resigned at the request of the board. But she said that while she had the responsibility to identify the source of leaks, “I did not propose the specific methods,” and those who performed the investigation “let me and the company down.”
According to people briefed on Mr. Hurd’s plans, Kevin T. Hunsaker, its senior counsel and director of ethics, and Anthony R. Gentilucci, its Boston-based manager of global investigations, will leave the company. Mr. Hurd did not speak to this issue, and the company declined to comment.
. . . The moves by Hewlett-Packard on Friday were an attempt to get ahead of the torrent of daily disclosures about the spying operation and an acknowledgment of the irresponsibility, if not illegality, of the methods.
. . . Mr. Hunsaker, the lawyer and ethics officer, directed the 2006 phase of the investigation. Mr. Gentilucci, the Boston-based investigations officer, was involved in both the 2005 and 2006 phases of the investigation.
. . .Michael J. Holston, a partner in the firm, laid out some evidence to reporters Friday after Mr. Hurd’s comments. While noting that the firm’s review was not complete, he said Ms. Dunn had personally contacted and engaged Security Outsourcing Solutions, a tiny Boston-area investigative firm operated by Ronald R. DeLia, in the 2005 phase.
“For the first month or so of the investigation, Ms. Dunn worked directly with Ron DeLia from S.O.S.,” Mr. Holston said, and it was only two months later that the company’s own detectives were brought in.
. . . Ms. Dunn’s lawyer, James J. Brosnahan, reiterated that claim Friday. “She went to the right people, and she was assured that what they were doing was legal,” he said.
. . . A crucial document was a March 2006 report prepared by the company’s investigators and Mr. DeLia under the supervision of Mr. Hunsaker, a senior company lawyer. Mr. Hurd was given a copy of that report, but he said he did not read it. “I could have, and I should have,” he said.
. . . It was also sent to the company’s outside counsel, the powerful Silicon Valley firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, for review and comment, Mr. Holston said.
. . . Mr. Hunsaker never obtained a written legal opinion, according to people briefed on the company’s review of its investigation.
. . . Neither Mr. Hurd nor Mr. Holston indicated why the chief executive did not raise questions about the way the scheme was to be carried out.
Link to Chairwoman Leaves Hewlett in Spying Furor - New York Times
