Former HP CEO Fiorina also pursued leaks while at the helm

This really comes as no surprise -- former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, who was pushed out of the company's top job a little over a year ago by chairwoman Patty Dunn, was park of the pack who tried to investigate press leaks at Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) as well. With former chairwoman Dunn (who is now indicted by the State of California for her part in HP's spying scandal) in the hot seat, one has to wonder if Carly is having her due. Well, not really -- her misplaced performance as a CEO was a mistake, although her finesse at sales and marketing (more emphasis on sales) shows a very strong track record in her career.

Carly's book, Tough Choices, is set to be released this coming Tuesday according to this Cnet article, although advance copies have been in the hands of scandal-happy reviewers already. One thing that seems interesting is the timing of the book. It coincides with the ongoing pretexting corporate spying scandal at HP right now, which resulted from leak investigations that initially started with Carly's authorization and under her watchful eye. Hmm.

This almost leaves current CEO Mark Hurd in the clear -- well, not quite. The current CEO has said that he was inattentive to some details about the ongoing corporate investigations, strange for such an operationally-minded CEO, and let some things get his approval without iron-clad due diligence on asking about the origins of the information. But, with the scandal now rocking the company having been started by a CEO predecessor -- insofar as just being approved, if anything -- Hurd will most likely stay perched atop the company where he has made significant changes and changed the once-declining fortunes of HP.