Investigative journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings, 33, who died in a car-wreck earlier this June, was working on a story for Rolling Stone about CIA Director John Brennan, according to his widow Elise Jordan.
Hastings, a reporter for BuzzFeed and Rolling Stone, became well-known after he wrote a piece for Rolling Stone in which he profiled Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The profile included statements from McChrystal that were critical of the Obama administration and is thought to have contributed to the general’s resignation in 2010.
The release of this additional information about Hastings’ latest piece has only fueled theories that Hastings was killed intentionally by a government agency, and not in a tragic car accident.
According to Hastings’ widow Elise Jordan, Michael Hastings was pursuing a “hot story” and wanted to “challenge conventional wisdom.” She said that Hastings wrote a piece on Brennan for Rolling Stone and said it was scheduled to be released in a few weeks.
Investigative journalist Kimberly Dvorak, who works for a local San Diego news affiliate, said that her sources confirmed Brennan was the subject of Hastings latest piece. Dvorak was also sent emails from WikiLeaks that allege that when Brennan was acting as Obama’s counter-terrorism Czar, Brennan was “behind the witch hunts of investigative journalists learning information from inside the beltway sources.”
In response to the emails published by WikiLeaks, the CIA responded by saying that they were aware that Hastings was working on a CIA story and added, “Without commenting on information disseminated by WikiLeaks, any suggestion that Director Brennan has ever attempted to infringe on constitutionally-protected press freedoms is offensive and baseless.”
CIA media spokesman Todd Ebitz also contacted Dvorak and said that the organization was saddened by Michael Hastings’ death and that the CIA had a cordial working relationship with him.
The investigation into the death of Hastings by the Los Angeles Police Department is still ongoing. Mint Press News previously reported on the emergence of new footage appearing to show the crash of Hastings’ car featuring multiple explosions.