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House Panel Digs Deep in HP Spy Case
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"Yes or no," she said.
Pressed to answer, he shook his head "no."
Dunn stood by her decision to investigate boardroom leaks, restating her position that it was necessary to protect company trade secrets and confidential deliberations. "I believe that these methods may be quite common, not just at Hewlett Packard, but at companies around the country," she said of corporate-sponsored investigations. "Every company of consequence has people who do detective-type work in order to ferret out the sources of nefarious activities." HP launched its effort to flush out who leaked boardroom secrets after a series of news stories appeared in early 2005, citing sources close to its board. Investigators' actions, which members of the subcommittee compared to B-grade movie scripts, have spawned both state and federal criminal probes.
Though most of the questioning was cutting, there were moments of levity.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) said stealing phone records was theft. To underscore his point, he asked Dunn whether she would give him her phone records.
"In your position, I would give you my phone records," Dunn said after some hesitation, soliciting laughter from the standing-room only crowd.
"I wouldn't give you mine," Barton retorted.
When a committee member encouraged Hurd to call the House majority leader and endorse legislation outlawing the unauthorized access to phone records, Hurd responded, "You have my support." There are four such bills pending in the House and Senate.
In addition to Hunsaker and Gentilucci, both of whom resigned from HP this week, and Baskin, others pleading the Fifth Amendment yesterday were Ronald DeLia, managing director of outside investigator Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc.; Joseph DePante, owner of Action Research Group; and Bryan Wagner, Charles Kelly, Valerie Preston, Cassandra Selvage, Darren Brost, all private investigators and subcontractors to Action Research Group.
