Subject: FBI Investigation, re: NSA

Hey (redacted names) — the Feds are interviewing my “close friends and associates.” Perhaps if the authorities arrive “BuzzFeed GQ,” er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices or related journalism issues.
Also: I’m onto a big story, and need to go off the rada[r] for a bit.
All the best, and hope to see you all soon.
Michael –

That was an Email Sent Monday June 17th to Michael Hastings friends and associates.

By Tuesday June 18th, Michael Hastings was dead.

Who was Michael Hastings?

He was an award winning investigative journalist who worked for Newsweek, Buzzfeed, Rolling Stone, and was a contributor to several other news organizations. Michael was best known for an article that was printed in Rolling Stone Magazine in 2010 about General Stanley McChrystal. The story didn’t show General McChrystal in a good light, and the General was pretty much forced to step down after having to go meet with President Obama. Hastings reporting was praised in some circles, but many other journalists blasted him for exposing what he did. Hastings later said he felt the heat from all angles and reported that staff members from McChrystal had made death threats towards him for his reporting.

Hastings regularly stood up to the establishment and It’s probably safe to say that he didn’t have very many friends at the Pentagon. His last article before his death was titled, “Why Democrats Love to Spy on Americans.” He was closely watching and reporting on the recent spying on Americans and on Journalists.

How did he Die?

At 4:30am in Los Angeles, Hastings was filmed by (another reporter on a dash cam) driving his brand new Mercedes C250 coupe through a red light. A couple minutes later, an eye witness says that he saw the Mercedes traveling at “top speed” through the neighborhood – with sparks or fire coming out from under the car before the vehicle lost control and crashed into a tree that was in the middle of the road. (Bear in mind, that if you are traveling at high speeds, it would be possible to hit dips in the road which would cause your car to scrape the road and spark.)

One witness claims that she heard, what sounded like a “bomb” going off. Her house and windows shook.

The car was then captured on film – – by the same reporter who captured Hastings speeding on his dash cam 2 minutes earlier. By the time this alleged reporter arrives on scene, the entire car is engulfed in flames.

The engine flew out of the car and landed 50 yards away from the crash.

The body was so badly damaged that the coroner had to use dental records to identify the body.

It was reported in one article that the accident took place less than 5 minutes from Michaels home.

Raw Footage of Michael Hastings Car Crash

The Fast Conclusion

Many are dismissing this as simply a speeding person at night who maybe is drunk or on drugs who lost control and wrecked his vehicle. Which is ENTIRELY POSSIBLE.

But given his background. Given the stories that are in the news about this administration going after reporters and leakers harder than anyone ever has previously. Given his email to friends just hours prior to his death. Given the fact that Wikileaks tweeted immediately after the news about Michael’s death and said quote

“Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him.”

One of Michael’s closest friend is Sergeant Joe Biggs who is making the rounds on the media outlets is also very suspicious and asking questions. He said Michael was very paranoid in the days before his death, especially after the NSA stories began breaking. He said this was out of character, and that he had known Michael since Afghanistan and knew the man as being fearless while trying to tell the truth.

The Questions:

Did someone call Michael at that time in the morning for him to be on the road? This is something investigators can easily track.

We need to hear from Mercedes and their explanation of how a brand new Mercedes C250 can be engulfed in flames in under 2 mins (or possibly explode if the woman’s correct by saying it sounded like an explosion and her house and windows shook)

And how often do engines fly 50 yards forward in automobile crashes? Some say it landed much further away.

His friends say that he drove like a grandma. Driving erratically at 4:30am doesn’t necessarily fit the profile of someone who is “going off the radar”.
What was he working on that was going to be a huge story on the CIA?

Did you Know?

Today’s cars are some of the safest on the road. On board computer systems, especially ones like those found on high-end vehicles like Mercedes have numerous safety features built into them. Of course, when you are going at a high rate of speed – no computer is going to save you from an impact at extremely high rates of speed.

But there is also the flip side of that coin. While on-board computers offer amazing safety and convenience features. They also make you vulnerable to attacks. To hacking specifically.
And no, this is no tin foil hat conspiracy. It has been proven numerous times by several universities that it is relatively easy to hack a modern automobile. Just last year, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) had a conference where Dr. Kathleen Fisher talked about how easy it was to hack into a vehicle and take full control of it. The computers control everything in the car. Acceleration, braking, and even steering.
She mentions using the Bluetooth, or Diagnostic Port and several other methods of gaining access. And a person never has to physically touch the car.

Even more disturbing, Former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke told The Huffington Post that what is known about the single-vehicle crash is “consistent with a car cyber attack.”

Richard Clarke worked under the Ronald Reagan, George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush administrations. This is a guy who has been involved with our nations top secrets for decades. And even he considers the fact that this is a possibility that can’t be ruled out.

Conclusion

But I do want to stress. This could be nothing more than a common wreck. Maybe Michael was being reckless and speeding. But considering the circumstances, one thing is for certain.
I think it is absolutely an understatement to say that this needs to be investigated with the most careful attention to detail. And not just investigated like a normal car crash. But investigated to rule out any foul play whatsoever. And that means attempting to try to find anything as far as bomb residue and a complete inspection of the onboard computer systems. And see if there is anyway to also look at deleted files, because programs can execute themselves.

Sadly, if Michael Hastings was assassinated in a conspiracy. We may never know. Richard Clarke also said the following “So if there were a cyber attack on the car — and I’m not saying there was,” Clarke added, “I think whoever did it would probably get away with it.”

Apparently, these things are pretty easy to pull off without leaving much evidence.

I do hope that more journalists will at least have the courage to continue where Michael left off. Ask the tough questions. Even if its not popular. Seek to tell the truth. We need to have private investigators looking at this. Not just the LAPD and the Feds. And remember him by making sure that his death was indeed just an accident.
In one of his final appearances on TV. He said the following.

“The Obama Administration has clearly declared war on the press. It’s a war on investigative journalist, our sources. I think the only recourse to this kind of behaviour by the government, is to say back to the government, “We declare war on you” and from this point forward, we should no longer as a media as a whole cooperate in any matter with the government in terms of when we are doing national security stories.
It’s a free press, its not a free except when the government tells me to do it press. We’ve been way too easy going with these guys. We let them get away with it for years. We let them tell us what to print, what not to print. And I say be done with it. And everyone should just get together and fire back. Because no one else is going to protect the press.

Sources:

Michael Hastings sent chilling email before death: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/22/michael-hastings-email_n_3484118.html

Death Threats from McChrystal Staff: http://www.inquisitr.com/808997/michael-hastings-wrote-email-about-big-story-before-his-death/

Richard Clarke: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/michael-hastings-car-hacked_n_3492339.html

By: The Red Dragon