Michael Hastings investigation

The untimely death of journalist, Michael Hastings has created some controversy, not to mention getting conspiracy theorists into a frenzy.  It appears that he had concerns that he was under investigation by the FBI to do with his current investigative reports.

Hastings crashed his car at high speed into a tree after losing control of it shortly after talking to a lawyer from WikiLeaks about his suspicions: 

THE FBI has denied it was investigating Michael Hastings, the journalist who brought down America's top general in Afghanistan and who told friends hours before he died in a Los Angeles car crash that he feared he was under surveillance. 

Hastings, 33, was killed at 4.25am on Tuesday when his Mercedes-Benz C 250 spun out of control, crashed into a palm tree and was engulfed in flames. The car engine was found 30m away and it took three days to identify him through fingerprints. 

A writer for BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone, Hastings was best known for his 2010 profile of General Stanley McChrystal in which the staff of the then Nato commander in Afghanistan disparaged President Barack Obama. McChrystal had to resign. 

In his last article, entitled Why Democrats Love to Spy on Americans, Hastings wrote critically of the recently revealed National Security Agency data-gathering program. …… Hours before his death, Hastings contacted Jennifer Robinson, a lawyer with WikiLeaks, the anti-establishment group, and told her he believed the FBI was investigating him. 

Friends said Hastings was on edge. Cenk Uygur, who was close to Hastings, said on his cable television show that the US government "goes after journalists who reveal their secrets", adding: "Michael Hastings certainly went and exposed some secrets the government did not want you to know.” 

The FBI said that at "no time was journalist Michael Hastings ever under investigation". Police said Hastings was speeding before the crash and it was possible he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Given the massive surveillance of the US population by US security agencies combined with the seizure of records of dissident journalists, it would be a surprise if Hastings was not under some sort of surveillance by authorities, that is unfortunately a no brainer. 

It is possible that the FBI has been the agency to issue a denial because it may be one of those that is violating the rights of other Americans, while different agencies deal with Hastings.  He would be under some sort of investigation unless someone in the Administration has screwed up badly.

It is possible though that a smear job is underway on him, given the statement by police over it being “possible he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”  It is quite possible that toxicology reports, when they arrive some time in the future may indicate that he was over the legal limit and may have had other substances in his bloodstream at the time, it is also possible that it was not the case.

Until that is proven, it is a disgrace ti=o the man’s memory to speculate on it.