Journalist Michael Hastings is dead at 33

[8bitagent]

Yes. The occult. The whole point of occult cred is being hidden.

I remember in an old thread reading a synopsis of either an old book or film, where these high schoolers uncover that a prominent person in their city was behind some murders, but noone would believe
them. But in the end, the guy sees them at some sort of social function and gives the kids a kind of wink and a nod.

Signatures. Accidents, terrorism, suicides, etc. It can't just be bad. It has to be realllllllll bad. Princess Di, JFK, 9/11 and Hastings are examples where...ok hey sure, maybe it's as if we've been told. But good lord
those are some gnarly in your face incidents. Or maybe it's all synchronicity that can't be explained.

if Hastings had simply hung himself, or OD'd on pills...would it have had the same pyschological impact on journalists and would be journalists?

[Project Willow]

He either relapsed or he didn't. If he didn't, then the brothers trip had an ulterior motive.

I'm not used to such absolutist thinking coming from you. So what if his brother thought he'd relapsed? What difference does it make in questioning whether this was a hit? Hastings wasn't drunk or intoxicated with marijuana or amphetamine at the time of the accident. Would you classify him as relapsed because of the tox report? Do you think those trace levels are enough to explain the accident as well as his paranoia? On the other side of that, if you've got a hit out on a target, who cares if he's relapsed, except that it makes the whole thing easier.

When you consider the informal gag order supposedly placed upon police and firefighter wrt the crash, you have to think a bit bigger than that, I'd say. But seeing as how that tidbit sources to Kimberly Dvorak, I'm inclined to disregard it entirely.

Just for the record, Dvorak has no credibility with me. Even if the gag idea is true, I don't consider it a sign of anything in particular. It may be that they didn't want to be overwhelmed with press inquiries, it could have been a family request. As for the assumption that first responders must be handled in addition, what exactly do they need to be silent about? What evidence are you requiring them to have found in that incendiary scene?

[Forgetting2]

I hope to head over to Mozza early next week and see if I can ask some questions about their security cameras. (Actually I have an unused gift card for the place. A couple years back I did a free editing job for a producer--Two weeks of my time for a $200 gift card to the swank Mozza. What a deal.) I think I should eat first in case the questions piss them off.

I would go as a 'journalism student' (I've actually recently taken a couple classes at UCLA extension, and I think I can get the instructor to go along with my using his name as my 'mentor.')

It may be, as Drew suggested Krikorian was using a video app or streaming site. I'm going to ask a couple tech friends and a corporate dude I know who works for Apple. I think, as long as I'm going to Mozza, I'll try and contact this Krikorian. Which I'm guessing won't be easy. Dude seems pretty self absorbed L.A. type, by his blog.

[elfismiles]

How'd I miss this MSN post?

EDIT: There are TWO versions of this... One is RUMOR the other is FACT CHECK!

Fact Check: FBI investigating Hastings before death
Michael Hastings being investigated by the FBI?: Was the investigative journalist being investigated by the FBI?: Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings: Was the investigative journalist really being investigated by the FBI before he died?


AP Images

Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings: Was the investigative journalist really being investigated by the FBI before he died?
MSN News 9 days ago Curtis Cartier of MSN News

A new report suggests that the FBI had information filed on Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings, despite the agency's denial of an investigation.
...
MSN NEWS FACT CHECK

MSN News seeks to give up-to-date information on current events, politics, urban myths and misperceptions. We'll tell you what we can confirm as fact — and what we can't. If we can’t confirm it, we'll share what we do know about it.
http://news.msn.com/rumors/fact-check-f ... fore-death

Rumor: FBI investigating Michael Hastings before death
Michael Hastings investigated by FBI rumor: New report claims the FBI was investigating journalist Michael Hastings before his death.: Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings.
AP Images

Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings.
MSN News 4 days ago Curtis Cartier of MSN News

A new report suggests that the FBI had information filed on Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings, despite the agency's denial of an investigation.

UNCONFIRMED: The Department of Justice is planning to reveal documents it has on Michael Hastings, but the FBI says that info is not related to any investigation

Before Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings died in a fiery car crash in Los Angeles on June 18, he reportedly sent an email to friends explaining that he was worried he was being investigated by the FBI. Now, a pending public-records request is giving some people reason to doubt the agency's official statement that "At no time was journalist Michael Hastings under investigation..."

Investigative journalist Jason Leopold and Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral candidate Ryan Shapiro filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Department of Justice shortly after Hastings' death seeking all documents that the FBI had on the Rolling Stone writer. Given the FBI's contention that "at no time" was Hastings under investigation, many people might assume that no files would exist on the writer and the public-records request would take very little time.

But last week, after Leopold and Shapiro sued the DOJ for not responding to their FOIA request in a timely manner, the DOJ responded in court, saying that more time was needed to compile the records it found, and asking the judge for an extension beyond the 20-day time limit given to routine public-record requests.

"The FBI has completed its search for potentially responsive records and expects to finish processing the records by September 9," the DOJ said in its response. "The brief extension sought will allow the FBI to complete processing, which would moot Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. Additionally, the additional time will allow Defendant to prepare the appropriate responses to be prepared and filed. The requested extension will not unduly delay adjudication of this action."

The DOJ's extension request has led outlets like InfoWars and Opposing Views to declare that the FBI has reversed its declaration of having never investigated Hastings.

Investigation or routine files?

Asked about why it would take an inordinate amount of time to compile records on a person who was never under investigation, an FBI spokesman told MSN News that although Hastings was never the subject of an official probe, his name may have come up in other FBI reports relating to other investigations.

"Our statement from way back in June is still the same," FBI spokesperson Paul Bresson said. "At no time did we have an investigation on Michael Hastings. Whether or not his name surfaced during another investigation, or his name is in our files for some reason, that's another question."

Bresson said numerous high-profile people end up in FBI files due to other investigations. As an example he cited Bill Gates, who has never been under federal investigation, but because of numerous threats against his life that were reported to law enforcement, the agency has a files on him.

Of course, the reason for Hastings showing up in FBI records should be revealed once the DOJ finally releases the records it has requested more time to compile. Until then, however, it's premature to call the agency a bunch of liars.

UPDATE: The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner has released its toxicology report on Michael Hastings to MSN News. According to the report, Hastings died of "traumatic injuries" sustained when he smashed his Mercedes into a tree in Los Angeles in the early hours of June 18, 2013. The report notes that Hastings had traces of amphetamines and marijuana in his system when he died, though the traces "indicate prior, but not recent usage" and are not thought to have caused the crash.

The report also references the powerful hallucinogenic drug DMT, which Hastings was "also believed as using." Hastings' family, the report says, was in town in the hopes of getting him to check into drug rehab. He had spent roughly 14 years sober, but had recently begun using drugs again, the report says, citing family members. View the full toxicology report here.



MSN NEWS & RUMORS

MSN News seeks to give up-to-date information on rumors related to current events, people or even topics/issues of interest. We'll tell you what we can confirm from the rumor mill — and what we can't. If we can’t confirm a rumor, we'll share what we do know about it.

http://news.msn.com/rumors/rumor-fbi-in ... fore-death

[justdrew]

so you'd think AT LEAST the FBI would want to know who was impersonating FBI agents.

[km artlu]

Re Syria -- how fortuitous it is for our overlords that Michael Hastings is no longer among the living. The one person who possibly could have infiltrated a Ministry of Truth outlet to provoke a ripple of mainstream dissent is gone.

"...working on a big story..."

[8bitagent]

Re Syria -- how fortuitous it is for our overlords that Michael Hastings is no longer among the living. The one person who possibly could have infiltrated a Ministry of Truth outlet to provoke a ripple of mainstream dissent is gone.

"...working on a big story..."

OH IT'S ALL very nice and tidy, with a bow.

Manning is away for good pretty much
Hastings is dead
Greenwald and his family are being fucked with
Snowden the cipher is MIA
Assange is marginalized
and for good measure popular hacker icons Barnaby Jack and Aaron Swarz are conveniently dead
(as is the guy who was writing perhaps the most hard hitting truther book in recent memory)

[elfismiles]

Michael Hastings Death: Readers Respond to Our Cover Story
By L.A. Weekly readers Thursday, Aug 29 2013

http://www.laweekly.com/2013-08-29/news ... -accident/

Michael Hastings' Family Chides Media for Inaccuracies, Guards His Legacy
The BuzzFeed reporter's legacy of fearlessly confronting powerful institutions will be remembered by his family, friends and an annual fellowship for journalists like him
Published: August 27, 2013 @ 6:17 pm

In the wake of the L.A. County Coroner's report concluding that BuzzFeed journalist Michael Hastings' death was an accident, his family is speaking out about inaccurate media reports surrounding the 33-year-old's demise and doing its best to keep his legacy alive.

BuzzFeed's Michael Hastings National Security Reporting Fellowship will award $100,000 plus expenses to one journalist to pursue the kinds of stories that wouldn't get written otherwise. The deadline, Sept. 1, is coming up soon.

It's a small, but real, comfort to those Hastings left behind. The crusading journalist's fatal car crash in June gave rise to conspiracy theories surrounding the circumstances of his death and a lengthy L.A. Weekly story detailing his past drug use and struggles with addiction.

"There are plenty of inaccuracies and falsehoods that have been claimed, but it doesn't change anything," Hastings' brother Jeff told TheWrap. "Losing Mike is very painful; gossip and conspiracy theories are not."

Also read: Michael Hastings Autopsy Rules Death Accidental; Meth, Marijuana Found in System

His brother declined to discuss the inaccuracies further or address last week's L.A. Weekly story about Hastings' final days. According to the report, Hastings' family was on his way to L.A. to conduct an intervention when he crashed.

The L.A. County Coroner said Hastings tested positive for marijuana and amphetamines at the time of his death. Though the coroner wrote that the amphetamine use was "consistent with possible intake of methamphetamine," the prescription drugs Ritalin or Adderall would also cause a positive result; the report noted that Hastings had a history of "misusing Ritalin." The coroner nonetheless ruled the death accidental.

"Our family will remember him with love as our brother, son, grandson, cousin," his brother Jeff told TheWrap. "I hope others continue to read his books and articles and remember him as a journalist who didn't pick on the easy targets and worked, as best he could, in the interests of freedom and peace."

Also read: Michael Hastings Death: FBI Says Journalist Was Not Under Investigation

Conspiracy theories cropped up almost immediately after Hastings' June 18 death. Within days, the FBI told TheWrap that Hastings was not under investigation.

That didn't stop some of Hastings' fellow journalists from reporting otherwise. A blogger who contributes to Examiner.com as a "National Homeland Security Correspondent" made frequent appearances on a San Diego CW affiliate's news broadcast to promote various conspiracy theories about Hastings' death.

Despite a lack of evidence to support her assertions -- and the fact that some of her "facts" were just plain wrong -- they've been picked up by other, more reputable publications, as Mother Jones recently reported.

Also read: Michael Hastings' Death Still Fueling Speculation a Week After Fatal Crash

Hastings' widow, Elise Jordan, recently told CNN she thought he died in "a really tragic accident." She lashed out at inaccurate media reports about her husband the day after his death, accusing the New York Times of "blatant mischaracterization" in Hastings' obituary.

"Michael's family and I are of course pleased that his legacy will carry on in a fellowship," Jordan told TheWrap.

"We've started to get some amazing applications for the fellowship," BuzzFeed's editor-in-chief Ben Smith told TheWrap. "And we are hopeful that we will be able to provide the resources for a reporter with the skills and vision to extend Michael's legacy."

http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-pos ... acy-113431

[slimmouse]

Manning is away for good pretty much
Hastings is dead
Greenwald and his family are being fucked with
Snowden the cipher is MIA
Assange is marginalized
and for good measure popular hacker icons Barnaby Jack and Aaron Swarz are conveniently dead
(as is the guy who was writing perhaps the most hard hitting truther book in recent memory

All of this may be true, but personally I see a storm coming for the control system. And I strongly suspect that it does too.

[Luther Blissett]

Barracuda, is my point completely lost on you? Is it too far out there?

No, i get you. What I'm saying is that this:

My going theory of most possible is that he pulled the emergency brake because he had lost control of the car causing it to spin out control while acceleration was still imposed upon the drivetrain. Add to that the possibility of some sort of incendiary.

...requires teamwork which includes a large group of persons. You can't hack and explode an automobile without the knowledge of the police investigators. That shit leaves traces. There's zero reason for the mention of meth rather than Adderall on the tox report outside of making Hastings look like a tweaker. This is not a one man job, not even close. If it's a hit, there's a committee involved, an organizational structure. And you'd might as well try and visualize and understand that structure as thoroughly as possible if that's what you believe. Otherwise, you're simply kowtowing to the awesome superpowers of the perps. Which is just what they'd like.

Wouldn't the average LAPO-type revel at the death of a man like Hastings? It's not a stretch for me to imagine that it would only take a whispered suggestion to get one or two with access to the investigation to go along with the mods operandi.

[Luther Blissett]

Manning is away for good pretty much
Hastings is dead
Greenwald and his family are being fucked with
Snowden the cipher is MIA
Assange is marginalized
and for good measure popular hacker icons Barnaby Jack and Aaron Swarz are conveniently dead
(as is the guy who was writing perhaps the most hard hitting truther book in recent memory

All of this may be true, but personally I see a storm coming for the control system. And I strongly suspect that it does too.

Agreed. There are a lot more beyond this small crowd working to step in. Especially now that there exists an entire generation which knows the truth about the american dream.

[stillrobertpaulsen]

I checked and didn't see this link, sorry if it's a repeat:

Michael Hastings was afraid his car was tampered with
Published time: August 22, 2013 16:09
Edited time: August 22, 2013 16:42



As details about journalist Michael Hastings’ death remain unanswered following the release of a coroner’s report, a neighbor says the late reporter was afraid to get in his own car hours before he died in high-speed crash June 18 in Hollywood.

Hastings, 33, was killed when his Mercedes coupe crashed into a tree just before 5 a.m. that morning, and details about the collision have been contested in the months since. A friend of Hastings said days later that the reporter believed he was being investigated by the government, and the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks said one of their attorneys was contacted by Hastings hours before his death.

In the aftermath, conspiracists floated the possibility that Hastings’ car had been hacked, or perhaps a hit had been ordered to take him out before another big story could stir up the political world. Hastings’ previous works had led to serious consequences for many of those in power. Most famously, a 2010 Rolling Stone article by Hastings had directly led to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s 2010 resignation as US commander in Afghanistan.

On June 17, Hastings allegedly told his colleagues that that he was going off the radar for a bit because he was working on a big story. Now only furthering skepticism about the journalist’s demise, his neighbor tells the Los Angeles Weekly that Hastings was terrified to get in his own car hours before he died inside of it.

Jordanna Thigpen tells LA Weekly that Hastings approached her in the early hours of June 18 and pleaded with her to hand over her Volvo.

“His behavior grew increasingly erratic. Helicopters often circle over the hills, but Hastings believed there were more of them around whenever he was at home, keeping an eye on him. He came to believe his Mercedes was being tampered with,” Gene Maddaus wrote for the Weekly

"Nothing I could say could console him," Thigpen told the paper. "He was scared, and he wanted to leave town.” Thigpen told Hastings she was experiencing mechanical problems with her car and declined his pleas to take it for a drive.

According to the neighbor, that meeting occurred after midnight on the morning of June 18 just five hours before emergency responders attended the fatal car crash. In the coroner’s report published last week by investigative journalist Jason Leopold, family members said Hastings was thought to have just recently begun taking drugs after almost a decade-and-a-half of sobriety. Hastings brothers told investigators that the reporter passed out at around 3 a.m. that morning and suggested he wouldn’t be surprised if cocaine, marijuana or DMT were being abused at the time. A toxicology report identified only insignificant traces of methamphetamines and weed in Hastings’ system, and led officials to conclude that either couldn’t play role in the crash.

The official report has since ruled out drugs or alcohol as the reason behind the crash, and perhaps no one will never know why Hastings’ automobile accelerated down a Hollywood strip that morning and into a tree. Coupled with the apparent attempts to warn his associate and WikiLeaks of a possible investigation, Thigpen’s admission isn’t making it any easier to close the case. Whether or not Hastings’ fear of driving his own car was justified by the work he was doing or other stressors at play will likely never be known. However, it without a doubt adds another interesting chapter to a puzzling saga worthy of the investigative work that Hastings made his hallmark.

[elfismiles]

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... lease.html


“Highly Redacted” Documents Confirm Michael Hastings Under FBI Investigation
FBI maintains files to “memorialize controversial reporting”
Julie Wilson
Infowars.com
September 10, 2013
http://www.infowars.com/highly-redacted ... stigation/

[Nordic]

Finally, finally, I had a chance to drive it today.

And it was like I remembered and more so -- that stretch of road is as straight, level, and smooth as any in Los Angeles. You could easily drive 80 miles an hour, or significantly more, down that road and not even feel a bump. The idea that anyone would lose control of their car there is fucking ludicrous. To actually leave that road and hit one of the palm trees would actually take some effort.

It removed the last doubts from my mind as to his cause of death. The guy was murdered.

[elfismiles]

Dvorak again ... and apparently her first draft on Examiner was pulled for bad grammar'd title:

The to CIA provide new details into Michael Hastings' death
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-to- ... ings-death

The CIA to Provide New Details into Hastings Death (Video)
By Kimberly Dvorak

Created: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 11:27:00 PST
Updated: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 11:36:32 PST

Above: Jeff Powers talks with contributing reporter Kimberly Dvorak, who discusses the latest information on the death of journalist Michael Hastings.

-- The CIA to Provide New Details into Hastings Death

San Diego 6 continues to receive numerous inquiries regarding the status of its investigation into the death of National Security reporter Michael Hastings. Hastings died in a single car accident in Los Angeles on June 18, 2013. Videos of the crash scene depict several explosions that resulted in a huge fireball. The 911 call transcripts obtained by San Diego 6 also confirmed multiple explosions.

The Los Angeles Police Department determined early in the investigation process that no foul play was suspected in Hastings’ single car accident, yet nearly four months later the LAPD refuses to release its investigative report.

Documents and emails obtained by SD6 from LA Supervising Criminalist Dan Anderson, clearly states the LA coroner reported drugs and alcohol were NOT factors in the accident despite widespread news reports to the contrary.

In response to San Diego 6's FOIAs, LAPD asserted a federal investigation may be pending as a reason for not releasing public information. However, the LA FBI office reported there was no investigation. Curiously a file on Hastings from the FBI obtained by Al Jazeera reveals the federal government considered Mr. Hastings' work controversial enough to keep an active file but redacted much of the report.

A number of efforts to learn more details about the 2013 Mercedes has been met with roadblocks because LAPD Detective White has not closed the case. As a result the leased Mercedes is off limits and Mercedes spokespeople will not comment on the accident. This suggests LAPD still has possession of the car.

Currently, San Diego 6 is waiting for more FOIA information from the FBI, DHS, DOJ, and Dept of the Army.

This week the CIA responded to a written request by stating it will provide some information on Mr. Hastings, but declined to answer any questions regarding connections between Mr. Hastings, jailed journalist Barrett Brown or Reddit’s deceased founder, Aaron Schwarz.

Interestingly, the CIA asserted federal law, which prohibits it from spying on Americans as the reason for not responding to FOIAs on Brown and Schwarz, but failed to explain why it had a file on Hastings.

The LAPD also responded to a FOIA request as to whether the ATF+E (explosive) was called to investigate the Hastings accident scene by referring SD6 to ATF+E. Earlier ATF's Chris Hoffman told San Diego 6 that he had no recollection of their dogs being sent to rule out foul play.

For a more detailed story: theKDreport.com

http://www.sandiego6.com/story/kimberly ... t-20131006

The CIA to provide new details into Hastings' death
Michael Hastings auto accident scene
Kimberly Dvorak
San Diego County Political Buzz Examiner
October 6, 2013

San Diego 6 continues to receive numerous inquiries regarding the status of its investigation into the death of National Security reporter Michael Hastings. Hastings died in a single car accident in Los Angeles on June 18, 2013. Videos of the crash scene depict several explosions that resulted in a huge fireball. The 911 call transcripts obtained by San Diego 6 also confirmed multiple explosions.

Link to SD6 TV Segment Link: http://www.sandiego6.com/home/

The Los Angeles Police Department determined early in the investigation process that no foul play was suspected in Hastings’ single car accident, yet nearly four months later the LAPD refuses to release its investigative report.

Documents and emails obtained by SD6 from LA Supervising Criminalist Dan Anderson, clearly states the LA coroner reported drugs and alcohol were NOT factors in the accident despite widespread news reports to the contrary.

In response to San Diego 6's FOIAs, LAPD asserted a federal investigation may be pending as a reason for not releasing public information. However, the LA FBI office reported there was no investigation. Curiously a file on Hastings from the FBI obtained by Al Jazeera reveals the federal government considered Mr. Hastings' work controversial enough to keep an active file but redacted much of the report.

A number of efforts to learn more details about the leased 2013 Mercedes has been met with roadblocks because LAPD Detective White has not closed the case. As a result the leased Mercedes is off limits and Mercedes spokespeople will not comment on the accident. This suggests LAPD still has possession of the car.

Currently, San Diego 6 is waiting for more FOIA information from the FBI, DHS, DOJ, and Dept of the Army.

This week the CIA responded to a written request by stating it will provide some information on Mr. Hastings, but declined to answer any questions regarding connections between Mr. Hastings, jailed journalist Barrett Brown or Reddit’s deceased founder, Aaron Schwarz.

Interestingly, the CIA asserted federal law, which prohibits it from spying on Americans as the reason for not responding to FOIAs on Brown and Schwarz, but failed to explain why it had a file on Hastings.

The LAPD also responded to a FOIA request as to whether the ATF+E (explosive) was called to investigate the Hastings accident scene by referring SD6 to ATF+E. Earlier ATF's Chris Hoffman told San Diego 6 that he had no recollection of their dogs being sent to rule out foul play.

I would like to thank the tens of thousands of people who continue to follow this important story and the supportive comments that include many helpful tips. You can post tips for me at theKDreport.com or sandiego6.com or email: Kimberly.dvorak@hotmail.com Stay tuned more developments…

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-to- ... ings-death