US legislators will today hold hearings on Hewlett-Packard's controversial internal investigation into the telephone records of some board members and journalists.
HP Chief Executive Mark Hurd and former chairman Patricia Dunn are due to recount their roles in the investigation to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing that begins at 10 a.m.
The company has admitted its investigators impersonated company board members, employees and journalists to get their telephone records as part of an effort to learn the source of the leaks of secret board discussions.
Ms Dunn said in written testimony released yesterday that she was assured by others that the practices used were legal and believed the leak investigation, started in 2005, had been authorised by Mr Bob Wayman, chief financial officer and acting chief executive at the time.
Ms Dunn said Wayman had referred her to the head of HP global security who in turn led her to a private investigator.
But an HP spokesman denied Mr Wayman's involvement.
HP is under investigation by the US Justice Department, California's attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The House of Representatives and Senate are debating whether to pass a narrow bill focusing on criminal penalties for obtaining or selling telephone records surreptitiously, or a broader measure that orders more safeguards for such data.
