HP Investigation Included Company Spokesman

Hewlett-Packard Co. officials said Saturday that the company improperly accessed phone records of a corporate spokesman during its investigation into unauthorized leaks to the press.

Spokesman Michael Moeller was one of two HP employees targeted during the company’s internal probe, said Robert Sherbin, another HP spokesman, who would not identify the other targeted employee.

Sherbin said the investigation into Moeller’s potential involvement with press leaks was “baseless” and found that Moeller had no part in the leaks.

Moeller, a former reporter at BusinessWeek and PC Week, said that HP Chief Executive Mark Hurd and Chairwoman Patricia C. Dunn had both apologized to him.

Dunn has acknowledged that she authorized the investigation, during which private investigators hired by HP used Social Security numbers and other personal information to pose as company directors, employees and journalists, and to access logs of their home and cellphone calls.