Investigative Reporter Michael Hastings Dies In Spectacular LA Car Crash

Michael Hastings
(photo: motherjones.com)

In 2010, reporter Michael Hastings wrote a piece for Rolling Stone about General Stanley McChrystal, who led American forces in Afghanistan at the time. The profile included some of the general's unflattering opinions about President Obama and some of the administration's key staff members. Needless to say, the U.S. commander-in-chief was displeased and General McChrystal quickly became the former leader of American forces in Afghanistan.

Hastings, as investigative reporters know only too well, worked in a rough neighborhood. I'm not referring to the Taliban. The forces Hastings' Rolling Stone article pissed off were formidable ones, with long personal and institutional memories. Payback in some form seemed possible.

It cannot be proven, at least not today, that Hastings' passing earlier this week at age 33 had some connection to the elements the reporter was willing to bring to light. However, his death, the result of a dreadfully fiery, one-car accident in Los Angeles' upscale Hancock Park neighborhood, remains a deeply disturbing, very suspicious incident.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Hastings was recently on the trail of another hot story. This one involved Jill Kelley's lawsuit against the Department of Defense and the FBI. Ms. Kelley was mixed up in the sex scandal that brought down then-CIA director David Petraeus. Ironically, President Obama had designated Petraeus as McChrystal's replacement as the leader of America's legions in Afghanistan.

PS. The New York Times' obituary of Hastings includes what his wife viewed as the newspaper's significant mischaracterizations of his work. The story, as relayed in mediate.com, is an interesting one, and begins to shed light where some prefer shadows and darkness.