Washington, Sept 22: Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Mark Hurd will testify to a House subcommittee on the company's leak probe, HP said on Thursday, hours after the panel's top Democrat said he should appear at a hearing.
The computer and printer maker also announced a news conference for Friday, after US financial markets close, for Hurd to discuss the company's investigation into the leaks.
HP faces a storm of controversy over its admission that its chairman, Patricia Dunn, hired investigators to uncover the source of news leaks from the boardroom.
The company has admitted the investigators got phone call records of HP board members, at least two company employees, and of journalists, without their knowledge by posing as those individuals. The practice is often known as "pretexting."
Federal prosecutors, the California attorney general, a congressional committee and the Securities and Exchange Commission have launched investigations.
Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, urged Hurd to appear at its September 28 hearing after documents suggested he knew about the probe into leaks from HP's board.
"I think there were some e-mails off (Patricia) Dunn's BlackBerry or something, (that) were to or from Hurd," Stupak told reporters. "I'm not sure in how much detail they had, but it gave me the impression at least that Hurd knew what was going on."
Stupak said in a statement the subcommittee should hear from Hurd given allegations surrounding HP and recent reports that Hurd may have known of HP's "deceptive practices."
An HP spokeswoman said Hurd had offered to appear before the subcommittee and that his offer had been accepted. A spokesman for the panel had no immediate comment.
The panel is already slated to hear from Dunn, who agreed to relinquish her chairman title next year, HP general counsel Ann Baskins and outside legal counsel Larry Sonsini.
Separately, Palo Alto, California-based HP revealed in a regulatory filing that the SEC asked it to turn over records and information about the resignation of Thomas Perkins from the company's board of directors and the leak investigation.
Perkins resigned from the board in May in protest over the leak investigation. HP said this month that director George Keyworth, who also has resigned, had acknowledged leaking confidential information from meetings to the media.
An SEC spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
HP also said in the filing that it reached agreements with Perkins and Keyworth, including payment of certain expenses they have incurred. The agreements include the right for Perkins and Keyworth to pursue claims against private investigators "and any other third parties who may have unlawfully requested or directed such firms to obtain personal information" about them or their family.
The full House Energy and Commerce Committee has authorized the use of subpoenas if witnesses refuse to attend the hearing, or if the panel cannot obtain documents it is seeking.
Ronald DeLia, an HP outside investigator and managing director of Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc., will be subpoenaed to testify, House subcommittee chairman Rep. Edward Whitfield (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky said on Wednesday.
Stupak questioned whether the practice of pretexting was being used throughout the corporate world.
"If Hewlett-Packard is doing it, a big company like that, I think many companies in the United States have used pretexting for their purposes," he said.
In California, a spokesman for the state attorney general Bill Lockyer said HP initially "stonewalled" the state's probe, but now has expressed willingness to cooperate.
The spokesman, Tom Dressler, attributed the change to HP hiring a new law firm to represent it in the growing scandal.
"HP has been and continues to cooperate fully with the California attorney general's investigation," said HP spokesman Ryan Donovan. "There's been no change."
Bureau Report
