HP CEO: Board Leak Was the Crime

In a brief twenty minute press conference where no questions were taken, Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd and Michael Holston, partner with the law firm Morgan Lewis, attempted to shift the focus of the scandal away from the claims of "pretexting" and tracking of both board members and journalists, and to the actual leak itself as being the true crime in the case.

It was also revealed that chairwoman Patricia Dunn had handed in her resignation effective immediately, and would leave the HP board entirely. The company had said previously that she would step down effective in January, although retain her directorship. It was also confirmed that Hurd would appear at a Congressional hearing on the matter.

The hastily announced news conference comes one day after the Washington Post confirmed Hurd had knowledge of and approved some of the investigatory tactics used, and several days after the revelation that HP used third-party contractors to spy on journalists and directors surfaced.

The conference even included the unfortunate selection of "How Far is Heaven" by the Los Lonely Boys as journalists took their seats, which includes these ironic lyrics, especially considering the circumstances: "Save me from this prison, Lord, help me get away ...'cause only you can save me now from this misery."

In his personal comments, Hurd said the company's goal is to be as transparent and accurate as possible. However, he cautioned that the company still did not have all the facts and he could not guarantee the full story would ever be revealed due to the complexity of the situation.

Even in light of Dunn's sudden resignation, Hurd still defiantly defended her actions. "It was the responsibility of the HP chairman to take the investigation seriously," he said. Yet he later would apologize to everyone, saying "the people of HP don't deserve this, nor do any of the people it impacted."

Hurd also went through his own recollection of events, for the most part confirming the multiple reports on his actions that have surfaced over the past several days and weeks.

He acknowledged that he had approved the content of a fake e-mail tip sent to Dawn Kawamoto of CNET News.com, although he did not mention her by name. He said he "did not recall" ever approving the tracer technology that was added to the faked news item she received.

Also confirmed was his failure to read a report on the investigation and its tactics that apparently had crossed his desk. "I could have, and I should have," he told reporters. However, he promised to be more vigilant in the future. "I commit to get to the bottom of this," he said.

Concluding his remarks, Hurd said the company could have never anticipated the direction on which its investigation and the surrounding fallout took. "Our job is to fix this, and get back to work at running the business, serving customers, and delivering on our commitments."

During the second part of the press conference, Hurd’s newly retained counsel, Mike Holston –- who heads Morgan Lewis’ corporate investigations team, and whom Hurd made clear was not being retained by the HP board –- detailed what his legal team had discovered about the HP investigation and its techniques. Here is a summary of what Holston said, as it was presented:

The investigation into the source of leaks from the HP board was managed, as Holston explained, by chairwoman Patricia Dunn. It took place in two phases. First, codename “Kona I” was launched in early 2005, though by July of that year would turn up no clear suspects as to the source of the leak.

This is when HP first contracted with the outside firm of Security Outsourcing Services. “HP had a long-standing contractual relationship with S.O.S.,” said Holston, though he did not say why.

Next: What HP’s counsel discovered about the leak investigations