Michael Hastings (journalist)#Death

Born in Malone, New York, Michael was the son of Molly (née Mahon) and Brent Hastings. Hastings had two brothers, Jon and Jeff.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqhJCGSZBhEC&q=jeff&pg=PA77|title=I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story|author=Michael Hastings|author2=Simon & Schuster|author2-link=Simon & Schuster|page=77|isbn=978-1416560982|year=2010|publisher=Simon and Schuster }}[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/BurlingtonFreePress/obituary.aspx?n=MICHAEL-M-HASTINGS&pid=165449394 Michael Hastings obituary], legacy.com; accessed April 11, 2015. Hastings lived in Malone until he was 11 years old. His family then moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where his mother was trained in the field of pediatric ophthalmology at McGill University.Hurlburt, Casey (November 11, 2010). [http://www.vermontbiz.com/news/november/vermonter-michael-hastings-cover-rollingstone "Vermonter Michael Hastings on the cover of the RollingStone"], vermontbiz.com; accessed April 11, 2015. He attended Lower Canada College, a private preparatory high school in Montreal, where he wrote a column for the school's paper.{{cite web|url=http://trueslant.com/caitlinkelly/2009/08/27/its-j-day-former-la-times-bill-lobdell-and-newsweeks-michael-hastings-on-the-story-that-broke-their-hearts|title=It's J-Day: Former LA Times' Bill Lobdell and Newsweek's Michael Hastings On The Story That Broke Their Hearts|publisher=trueslant.com|work=True/Slant|date=August 27, 2009|access-date=August 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731013608/http://trueslant.com/caitlinkelly/2009/08/27/its-j-day-former-la-times-bill-lobdell-and-newsweeks-michael-hastings-on-the-story-that-broke-their-hearts/|archive-date=July 31, 2013|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

When he was 16, his family relocated to Vermont.{{cite web|url=http://www.vermontlife.com/?s=Michael+Hastings|title=From the Pages of Vermont Life – Danger Man|author=Kim Ashe|website=vermontlife.com|date=May 13, 2013}} He attended Rice Memorial High School, a Roman Catholic secondary school in South Burlington, Vermont. In high school Hastings was elected as class president, where he ran on an "anti-administration platform". He played lacrosse and soccer, and performed in the school's plays before graduating in 1998.Silverman, Adam (June 21, 2013). [https://archive.today/20130706211645/http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130621/NEWS02/306210029/Michael-Hastings-email-Feds-FBI-investigating-over-NSA "Michael Hastings email: Feds are investigating"], burlingtonfreepress.com; accessed April 11, 2015. After graduating, Hastings wrote for Scholastic, an educational magazine for young adults. He attended Connecticut College before earning his Bachelor of Arts in journalism from New York University in 2002.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/business/media/michael-hastings-award-winning-journalist-dies-at-33.html|title=Michael Hastings, 33, Winner of Polk Award|author=Margalit Fox|newspaper=nytimes.com|date=June 19, 2013|access-date=April 11, 2015}}

Hastings married journalist Elise Jordan in May 2011 in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

Hastings began his journalism career as an unpaid intern for Newsweek magazine in 2002,{{cite web|url=http://www.cardinalpointsonline.com/news/rolling-stone-writer-shares-story-with-students-1.2722242#.UhgVIxuTgV0|title=Rolling Stone writer shares story with students|website=cardinalpointsonline.com|author=Ian Tuly|author2=Cardinal Points|author2-link=Cardinal Points|date=March 29, 2012|access-date=August 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193050/http://www.cardinalpointsonline.com/news/rolling-stone-writer-shares-story-with-students-1.2722242#.UhgVIxuTgV0|archive-date=October 29, 2013|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} and he was also a regular contributor to Gentlemen's Quarterly and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine.[https://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/200810/michael-hastings-newsweek-presidential-campaign Hack: Confessions of a Presidential Campaign Reporter], GQ, October 2008.

In 2005, Hastings began covering the Iraq War while living in NATO-occupied Green Zones in Baghdad.{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottbuzz/michael-hastings-in-baghdad|title=Michael Hastings In Baghdad|website=buzzfeed.com|author=Scott Johnson|date=June 19, 2013}} Hastings suffered the loss of his fiancée Andrea Parhamovich in 2007. A former spokeswoman for Air America, Parhamovich moved to Baghdad and began working for the National Democratic Institute. She died after her convoy was ambushed by gunmen, killing Parhamovich and her three security guards.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?ex=1326862800&en=8cdb25d2e2c307c7&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|title =Ambush Kills an American Teaching Democracy to Iraqis|newspaper=nytimes.com|author=Damien Cave|date=January 19, 2007}} Hastings wrote a book on the incident, titled I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story.{{cite news|title=What She Did for Love|first=George|last=Packer|author-link=George Packer|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/books/review/Packer-t.html?_r=1|work=The New York Times Book Review|page=12|date=April 20, 2008|access-date=June 24, 2010}}{{cite news|title=Grieving journalist writes 'final love letter to Andi'|page=3D|first=Craig|last=Wilson|author-link=Craig Wilson (columnist)|date=April 3, 2008 |access-date=June 24, 2010|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2008-03-31-hastings-iraq_N.htm|work=USA Today|publisher=Gannett}}{{cite news|title=Backstory|url=http://business.highbeam.com/437597/article-1G1-187867499/backstory|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301191450/http://business.highbeam.com/437597/article-1G1-187867499/backstory|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2012|work=Gentlemen's Quarterly|date=April 1, 2008|access-date=June 24, 2010|quote=This war. It takes and takes. Drains the budget, flays the soul. Or{{snd}}immeasurably worse{{snd}}it claims the person you love most. In January 2007, aid worker Andi Parhamovich was killed in Baghdad while her boyfriend, Newsweek 's Michael Hastings, worked a few miles away (page 166). Hastings has since returned to Iraq; he can't get Andi or the war out of his system.}}{{cite news |title=I Lost My Love in Baghdad|first=Lauren|last=Iannotti|url=http://www.marieclaire.com/world-reports/news/international/love-war-zone-baghdad-1|page=99|work=Marie Claire|access-date=June 24, 2010|date=June 1, 2008}} (interview with the author){{cite news|title=I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story.(Brief article)(Book review)|first=Jay|last=Freeman|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-34420981_ITM|work=Booklist|date=April 15, 2008|access-date=June 24, 2010}} Shortly before its publication, Newsweek published an excerpt of the book, in which Hastings recounts the day Parhamovich died.Hastings, Michael. "I'm Sorry We Couldn't Do More", [https://www.newsweek.com/excerpt-i-lost-my-love-84455 Newsweek], March 29, 2008. The New York Times gave the book a mixed review.Packer, George. "What She Did For Love", [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/books/review/Packer-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 The New York Times], April 20, 2008.

In June 2010, Rolling Stone published "The Runaway General", Hastings's profile of U.S. Army general Stanley McChrystal,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624014247/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2010|title=The Runaway General|magazine=Rolling Stone|first=Michael|last=Hastings|date=June 22, 2010|access-date=June 23, 2010}} then commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in the Afghanistan war. The article reported remarks by McChrystal's staff that were overtly critical and contemptuous of White House staff and other civilian officials. On June 22, news of the forthcoming article reached the attention of the American print media and the White House. McChrystal immediately issued an extensive apology, and Duncan Boothby, the civilian contractor responsible for coordinating the article with Hastings, resigned. U.S. President Barack Obama summoned McChrystal to the White House on June 23,{{cite news|title=McChrystal's Fate in Limbo as He Prepares to Meet Obama|first1=Helene|last1=Cooper|author-link=Helene Cooper|author2=Thom Shanker|author3=Dexter Filkins|author3-link=Dexter Filkins|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/world/asia/23mcchrystal.html?hp|work=The New York Times|date=June 22, 2010|access-date=June 24, 2010}}{{cite video|date=June 22, 2010|title=Funding the Afghan Taliban|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2010/06/2010622133429161976.html|publisher=Al Jazeera English|access-date=June 24, 2010|quote=General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO military forces in Afghanistan, has been ordered to report to the White House and explain comments he has made about the Obama administration's Afghan policy. In an ironic twist of events, US citizens have discovered that it is their tax money that indirectly funds Taliban – the very people their troops are fighting in Afghanistan.}} and relieved him of command.{{cite news|title=McChrystal resigns Afghan command|first=Shaun|last=Waterman|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/23/mcchrystal-leaves-white-house-war-meeting|work=The Washington Times|date=June 23, 2010|access-date=June 24, 2010|quote=President Obama said Wednesday he had accepted the resignation of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal as commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, bringing to an ignominious end the storied but sometimes controversial career of one of the country's top soldiers. Mr. Obama, who angrily summoned Gen. McChrystal to Washington after the general and several aides may have disparaged senior members of the administration in a series of interviews with Rolling Stone magazine, ...}} Hastings offered his views on relations between McChrystal and the Obama administration.{{cite video|people=Michael Hastings|date=June 23, 2010|title=Writer explains McChrystal article|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/06/201062323918352563.html|publisher=Al Jazeera English|access-date=June 24, 2010}}

Hastings was originally meant to have controlled contact, which expanded when he had to catch a bus to Berlin with the general and his entourage after international flights were grounded, because of the air travel disruptions caused by the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, which gave him sufficient time to pick up less discreet remarks.{{cite news|author=Jenny McCartney|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/jennymccartney/7856386/The-volcano-claims-another-victim-General-McChrystal.html |title=The volcano claims another victim: General McChrystal – When the ash cloud threw the American commander and a journalist together it was bound to end badly|publisher=Telegraph.co.uk|date=June 26, 2010|access-date=June 19, 2013|location=London, UK}} How Hastings got access to McChrystal's inner circles is detailed in a Newsweek article.{{cite web|author=Andrew Bast|url=http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/22/rolling-stone-author-discusses-general-mcchrystal-interview.html|title=How Rolling Stone Got Into McChrystal's Inner Circle|publisher=Newsweek.com|date=June 22, 2010|access-date=June 19, 2013}} The Huffington Post named Hastings a 2010 Game Changer for his reporting, along with Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone.{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/29/game-changers-2010_n_775869.html#s168156|work=The Huffington Post|first=Alex|last=Leo|title=HuffPost Celebrates Its 2010 Game Changers|date=October 29, 2010}} Hastings was awarded a Polk Award for his reporting.Greenwald, Glenn (February 27, 2011) [http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/02/27/hastings/index.html The military/media attacks on the Hastings article], Salon.com; accessed April 11, 2015.

Hastings and Eric Bates, executive editor of Rolling Stone, repeatedly defended the accuracy of Hastings's article about McChrystal. In July 2010, the U.S. Army launched its own investigation into whether McChrystal and his team were insubordinate, and concluded that the most inflammatory comments were made by an officer in the Navy Special Warfare Group, according to The New York Times.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/world/asia/23military.html|work=The New York Times|first=Thom|last=Shanker|title=McChrystal Article Inquiry Leaves Questions Open|date=September 22, 2010}} This was later confirmed in Hastings's book about the war in Afghanistan that was published in January 2012, The Operators, which attributed a number of damning quotes to Lt. Commander Dave Silverman, now CEO of the McChrystal Group.{{cite news|url=http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/ajax/ajax-transcript.php?progid=268364&init=true|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140111091728/http://www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/ajax/ajax-transcript.php?progid=268364&init=true|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 11, 2014|work=C-SPAN|first=Brian|last=Lamb|title=Michael Hastings profile|date=January 12, 2012}} A subsequent Pentagon investigation challenged the accuracy of Hastings's article "The Runaway General" which anonymously quoted people around McChrystal making disparaging remarks about members of President Obama's national security team, including Vice President Joe Biden.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/us/politics/19military.html|first=Thom|last=Shanker|title=Pentagon Clears McChrystal Over Rolling Stone Article|date=April 18, 2011|work=The New York Times}} The report from the inquiry states "In some instances, we found no witness who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as reported. In other instances, we confirmed that the general substance of an incident at issue occurred, but not in the exact context described in the article."{{Cite web|date=2014-03-23|title=Review of Army Inspector General Agency Report of Investigation|url=http://rawreplaymedia.com/media/2011/1104/ROI-508.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323080641/http://rawreplaymedia.com/media/2011/1104/ROI-508.pdf|archive-date=March 23, 2014|access-date=2020-06-09}} In response, Rolling Stone stated, "The report by the Pentagon's inspector general offers no credible source{{snd}}or indeed, any named source{{snd}}contradicting the facts as reported in our story, 'The Runaway General.'"{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/us/politics/19military.html|title=Pentagon Inquiry Into Article Clears McChrystal And Aides|newspaper=nytimes.com|date=April 11, 2011|access-date=March 8, 2017}}

In an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC's Today show on June 23, 2011, Hastings said "I did not think Gen. McChrystal would be fired. In fact, I thought his position was basically untouchable, I thought it would give them a headache for maybe 72 hours".{{cite web|url=http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37893363/ns/today-today_people|title=Reporter believed McChrystal was 'untouchable'|publisher=MSNBC|date=June 24, 2010|access-date=June 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002161346/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37893363/ns/today-today_people/|archive-date=October 2, 2012|url-status=dead}}

In February 2011, Hastings wrote a lengthy article profiling McChrystal's successor, General David Petraeus, and detailing Petraeus's strategy for the war.{{Cite news|last=Hastings|first=Michael|title=King David's War|newspaper=Rolling Stone|date=February 2, 2011|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/king-davids-war-20110202|access-date=April 10, 2015}}

{{main|The Operators (book)}}

In January 2012, Hastings published The Operators, a book that details his travels with General Stanley McChrystal and his team in April 2010. It included extensive quotations from over 20 hours of audio recordings of McChrystal and his inner circle. The Daily Beast called it a "book of great consequence... The Operators seems destined to join the pantheon of great GWOT literature".{{Cite news|last=Gallagher|first=Matt|title=The Operators by Michael Hastings (Review)|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=January 17, 2012|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/17/the-operators-by-michael-hastings-review.html|access-date=April 10, 2015}} Reviewer Mark Moyar slammed the book in

The Wall Street Journal writing, "In contrast to many of the other correspondents covering Afghanistan, Mr. Hastings has not invested the effort required to comprehend the war's complexities."{{cite news|last1=Moyar|first1=Mark|title=Antiwar Reporting|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203550304577137803126269954|accessdate=2 March 2017|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=5 January 2012}} However, the Journal failed to disclose that Mark Moyar was a consultant for the U.S. military, who worked for General Petraeus and General Caldwell.{{cite web| url = https://www.c-span.org/video/?303592-1/qa-michael-hastings| title = Q&A with Michael Hastings {{!}} C-SPAN.org}} The book became a New York Times bestseller.{{cite news|last=Taylor|first=Ihsan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2012-02-05/hardcover-nonfiction/list.html|title=Best Sellers - The New York Times|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 19, 2013}}

Hastings recounted conversations with some of McChrystal's staff members in the book, when during a party at which everyone was "totally shit faced", one asked him, "You're not going to fuck us, are you?" and another stating, "We'll hunt you down and kill you if we don't like what you write". Hastings interpreted the drunken comments as a joke.{{cite book|author=Michael Hastings|title=The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan|url=https://archive.org/details/operatorswildter0000hast_y3x3|url-access=registration|date=February 23, 2012|publisher=Orion|isbn=978-1-4091-4489-2}}

File:Department of Homeland Security surveillance of Occupy Wall Street.pdf, which showed that the U.S. government has been keeping tabs on protestors of the Occupy Wall Street movement]]

Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama's Final Campaign was released as a downloadable e-book on popular formats and recounted Hasting's follies for access along President Barack Obama's incumbent race for re-election. The account notably includes a profile of press secretary Jay Carney, describing Carney as having "a serious, $10,000-a-day habit of following presidents around the country and the world", along with a published feud with White House aide Philippe Reines, a post-election spat with Rahm Emanuel, and other attempts of gaining deeper access. The script was published by Penguin/Blue Rider Press on January 5, 2013.{{cite book|last=Hastings|first=Michael|date=January 15, 2013|title=Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama's Final Campaign|location=New York|publisher=Blue Rider Press|isbn=9781101600894}}

In February 2012, in partnership with WikiLeaks, Hastings and Rolling Stone reported that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had been keeping tabs on the Occupy Wall Street movement. An October 2011 report named "Special Coverage: Occupy Wall Street," the DHS wrote that "mass gatherings associated with public protest movements can have disruptive effects on transportation, commercial, and government services, especially when staged in major metropolitan areas."{{cite news|last=Michael Hastings|title=Exclusive: Homeland Security Kept Tabs on Occupy Wall Street|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/exclusive-homeland-security-kept-tabs-on-occupy-wall-street-176743/|access-date=December 9, 2020|newspaper=Rolling Stone|date=February 28, 2012}} Hastings criticized the DHS report, which concluded, "The continued expansion of these protests also places an increasingly heavy burden on law enforcement and movement organizers to control protesters."

In June 2012, Hastings wrote an article about the struggles of Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by the Taliban when he walked off his Army base in Afghanistan in 2009 after being disillusioned with the war.{{cite news|title=The story behind Rolling Stone's 'Last American POW' article|url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/the-story-behind-rolling-stones-last|access-date=January 6, 2014|newspaper=MSNBC|date=June 8, 2012}}

In an interview with MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner, Hastings discussed his article and said, "There are elements within the Pentagon who don't want to make the trade for Bowe Bergdahl".{{cite news|last=Mcdonald|first=Mark|title=New Report Says Captive U.S. Soldier Left His Post Willingly|url=http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/new-report-says-captive-u-s-solider-left-his-post-willingly|access-date=January 6, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 13, 2012}}

A White House official subsequently responded to these allegations by informing Hastings that "details of Sergeant Bergdahl's capture are irrelevant". Bowe Bergdahl was traded for five Taliban prisoners in June 2014.

Hastings was a longtime critic of the U.S. drone program.{{cite magazine |last1=Hastings |first1=Michael |title=The Rise of the Killer Drones: How America Goes to War in Secret |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-rise-of-the-killer-drones-how-america-goes-to-war-in-secret-231297/ |access-date=9 December 2020 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=16 April 2012}} In May 2013, Hastings denounced President Barack Obama's foreign policy and use of drones as an embrace of Bush-era neoconservatism and "total militarism."{{cite news |last1=Jeltsen |first1=Melissa |title=Michael Hastings Rips Obama Drone Speech (VIDEO) |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-hastings-obama_n_3336214?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAA4PjL0IuW5n87ub7XxyWIoRUIlaWFf6m9dVd7nVJmBHEfk4UCYfTrPZ7T6p--fsYdVrDqS7y0EUYmC5DXN7j0WkRwkLvOhJDBGIwpAnO62fvNQHILFerZ6UCPxzHtTKARb727FRIlfDO6Kk50IjNP6OdOTjDi4mMuMCQUpSAHVO |access-date=9 December 2020 |work=Huffington Post |date=25 May 2013}} Hastings said that Obama "enshrines killing people and spying on journalists as the two major tenets of his national-security state." During the discussion, Hastings said that MSNBC contributor Perry Bacon Jr., was acting as a "stenographer" for the White House.{{cite magazine|last=Greg Pollowitz|title=Michael Hastings Rips Obama's Drone Speech|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/media-blog/michael-hastings-rips-obamas-drone-speech-greg-pollowitz/|magazine=National Review|date=May 25, 2013}}

On June 18, 2013, Hastings died in a single-vehicle automobile crash in his Mercedes-Benz C250 Coupé at approximately 4:25 a.m. in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.{{cite news|title=AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST MICHAEL HASTINGS DIES |url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_HASTINGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-18-23-16-54 |agency=Associated Press |access-date=June 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624105827/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_HASTINGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-18-23-16-54 |archive-date=June 24, 2013 }} A witness to the crash said the car seemed to be traveling at maximum speed and was creating sparks and flames before it fishtailed and crashed into a palm tree.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fweyFCFKcp0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/fweyFCFKcp0 |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|title=Witness to Michael Hastings Car Crash Shares His Story (TYT Exclusive)|date=June 21, 2013|work=YouTube|publisher=The Young Turks|access-date=June 22, 2013}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|last=Dvorak |first=Kimberley |title=Details of reporter Hastings' death elusive |url=http://www.sandiego6.com/story/details-of-reporter-hastings-death-remain-elusive-20130708 |publisher=San Diego 6 |access-date=July 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713071933/http://www.sandiego6.com/story/details-of-reporter-hastings-death-remain-elusive-20130708 |archive-date=July 13, 2013 |url-status=dead }} Video from a nearby security camera reportedly shows Hastings's vehicle speeding and bursting into flames.{{cite news|title=Michael Hastings death: New video of crash emerges|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-michael-hastings-death-new-video-of-crash-emerges-20130727,0,2133280.story|access-date=July 30, 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=July 27, 2013}}

Witnesses described the car's engine being ejected 50 to 60 yards (46–55 m) from the scene.{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/journalist-michael-hastings-killed-car-crash-article-1.1376574|title=Award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings killed in car crash|date=June 19, 2013|newspaper=NY Daily News}} Hastings's body was burned beyond recognition. The coroner identified the body by matching fingerprints with those the FBI had on file.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-journalist-carcrash-idUSL2N0EX02O20130621|work=Reuters|title=Los Angeles police see no sign of foul play in journalist's death|date=June 21, 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/michael-hastings-body-no-foul-play_n_3474265.html|work=The Huffington Post|first=Jack|last=Mirkinson|title=Michael Hastings' Body Identified|date=June 20, 2013}} Two days after the crash, the Los Angeles Police Department declared that there were no signs of foul play.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-journalist-carcrash-idUSL2N0EX02O20130621|title=Los Angeles police see no sign of foul play in journalist's death|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|last=Gorman|first=Steve|date=June 20, 2013|access-date=June 22, 2013}} The coroner's report ruled the death to be an accident.{{cite tech report|first=James|last=K. Ribe|author2=Selana Barros|title=Coroner's report|number=2013-04353|institution=County of Los Angeles|year=2013|url=https://app.box.com/s/qyq9xnffpax0glb6pk5s}} An autopsy showed that the cause of death was massive blunt force trauma consistent with a high-speed crash. The toxicology report showed evidence of THC (level 12 ng/ml) and methamphetamine positivity, but concluded it was "unlikely to have an intoxicative effect at the time of the accident" (page 7, autopsy report).

In an interview with writer Ray Sawhill, Hastings's older brother, Jonathan Hastings, recounts how he had flown to L.A. to help his brother shortly before the accident because he had "got the impression that he was having a manic episode, similar to one he had 15 years ago...", at which time "drugs had been involved..." After failing to convince his brother to check voluntarily into a drug rehabilitation program, or fly back to Vermont to stay with family, he started making plans with his other brother to attempt to "force Mike into checking himself into a hospital or detox center." However, before that could be arranged, "he snuck out [of the apartment] on me when I was sleeping." and had crashed shortly afterward. When asked directly whether his brother might have died from some sort of foul play, Jonathan responded "I really rule out foul play entirely. I might have been suspicious if I hadn't been with him the day before he died. After all, he definitely was investigating and writing about a lot of sensitive subjects. But based on being with him and talking to people who were worried about him in the weeks leading up to his death, and being around him when he had had similar problems when he was younger, I was pretty much convinced that he wasn't in danger from any outside agency."{{cite news|title=Michael Hastings' life and death: A brother's reflections

|url=https://www.salon.com/2013/11/05/michael_hastings_life_and_death_a_brothers_reflections |work=Salon.com |access-date=June 26, 2018 |date=November 5, 2013}}

Hastings was eulogized in the media by figures such as Chris Hayes,{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-hayes/my-eulogy-for-michael-has_b_3469101.html|work=The Huffington Post|first=Christopher|last=Hayes|title=My Tribute to Michael Hastings|date=June 19, 2013}} Rachel Maddow,[https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/videos/rachel-maddow-pays-tribute-to-michael-hastings-20130619 Rachel Maddow Pays Tribute to Michael Hastings], RollingStone.com; accessed April 10, 2015. his co-workers at BuzzFeed,[https://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/missing-michael-hastings Missing Michael Hastings], buzzfeed.com; accessed April 10, 2015. and others.[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/04/thank-you-for-your-service-remembering-michael-hastings.html Thank You For Your Service—Remembering Michael Hastings], TheDailyBeast.com; accessed April 10, 2015.

The 2015 documentary film Imminent Threat, directed by Janek Ambros, is dedicated to his work.

File:Tree at crash site of journalist Michael Hastings.jpg

Soon after Hastings's death, questions were raised about the crash that took his life.

Former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard A. Clarke said that what is known about the crash is "consistent with a car cyber attack." He was quoted as saying: "There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for major powers—including the United States—know how to remotely seize control of a car. So if there were a cyber attack on [Hastings'] car — and I'm not saying there was, I think whoever did it would probably get away with it."{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/michael-hastings-car-hacked_n_3492339.html|title=Was Michael Hastings' Car Hacked? Richard Clarke Says It's Possible|last=Hogan|first=Mike|date=June 24, 2013|access-date=December 15, 2014}}

The day before the crash, Hastings indicated that he believed he was being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In an email to colleagues, Hastings said that he was "onto a big story", that he needed to "go off the radar", and that the FBI might interview said colleagues.[http://ktla.com/2013/06/21/exclusive-hastings-sent-colleagues-email-hours-before-crash/#axzz2YFBUMsJ6 Exclusive: Hastings Sent Colleagues Email Hours Before Crash], KTLA.com; accessed April 10, 2015.{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/24/journalist-michael-hastings-sends-chilling-e-mail-to-colleagues-before-death|work=Fox News|title=Journalist Michael Hastings sent chilling email to colleagues before death|date=June 24, 2013}} WikiLeaks announced that Hastings had also contacted Jennifer Robinson, one of his lawyers, a few hours prior to the crash,[http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/06/19/wikileaks-hastings-said-he-was-being-investigated-by-fbi WikiLeaks: Hastings Said He Was Being Investigated By FBI], losangeles.cbslocal.com; accessed April 10, 2015. and the LA Weekly reported that he was preparing new reports on the CIA at the time of his death.{{cite news|url=http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/06/michael_hastings_cia_coverage_crash_fire.php|title=Michael Hastings Probed the CIA Before Fatal Hollywood Crash|date=June 18, 2013|newspaper=LA Weekly|access-date=April 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102151514/http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/06/michael_hastings_cia_coverage_crash_fire.php|archive-date=January 2, 2014|url-status=dead}}

The FBI released a statement denying that Hastings was ever under investigation by the agency. According to the alternative newspaper LA Weekly, his neighbor Jordanna Thigpen said that Hastings came to her apartment after midnight and urgently asked to borrow her Volvo, saying he was afraid to drive his own car. However, Thigpen declined.{{Cite news|url=http://www.laweekly.com/news/michael-hastings-dangerous-mind-journalistic-star-was-loved-feared-and-haunted-2614816|title=Michael Hastings' Dangerous Mind: Journalistic Star Was Loved, Feared and Haunted|last=Maddaus|first=Gene|date=August 22, 2013|work=L.A. Weekly|access-date=March 10, 2017}}{{cite web | url=https://www.salon.com/2013/08/21/report_michael_hastings_feared_his_car_had_been_tampered_with | title=Report: Michael Hastings feared his car had been tampered with | date=August 22, 2013 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.cityweekly.net/utah/crash-and-burn/Content?oid=2304395 | title=Crash & Burn }}

Motor Trend technical director Frank Markus said that the ensuing fire was consistent with a high-speed car crash.{{cite news|last=Walker|first=Michael|title=Car Experts on Michael Hastings' Crash: No Reason to Suspect Foul Play|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/car-experts-michael-hastings-crash-572699|access-date=July 27, 2013|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|date=June 20, 2013}}

There are conflicting opinions as to Hastings's death. After his death, some media outlets{{Who|date=August 2016}} recalled that Hastings said he had received death threats from the military after the McChrystal article.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130713071933/http://www.sandiego6.com/story/details-of-reporter-hastings-death-remain-elusive-20130708 DETAILS OF REPORTER HASTINGS' DEATH REMAIN ELUSIVE]. From the article: "One particular passage in Hastings book, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan, revealed that a former McChrystal staff member made a death threat. "We'll hunt you down and kill you if we don't like what you write," the unnamed staffer said. Hastings coolly retorted: "Well, I get death threats like that about once a year, so no worries." {{Disputed inline|Conspiracy theorist cited|date=August 2016|reason=This comes from a debunked conspiracy theory source and conflicts with the reliable sources already cited.}}

Cenk Uygur, a friend of Hastings's and host of The Young Turks, told KTLA that many of Michael's friends were concerned that he was "in a very agitated state", saying he was "incredibly tense" and worried that his material was being surveilled by the government. Friends believed that Michael's line of work led to a "paranoid state."[http://ktla.com/2013/06/19/driver-killed-in-fiery-car-crash-in-hollywood/#axzz2k1NEmwmS Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash], KTLA.com; accessed April 10, 2015. USA Today reported that in the days before his death, Hastings believed his car was being "tampered with" and that he was scared and wanted to leave town.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/22/newser-hastings-car/2684631|work=USA Today|first1=John|last1=Johnson|title=Hastings thought his car was being tampered with|date=August 22, 2013}}

The possibility of a conspiracy or some sort of government involvement in Hastings's death has been discounted by members of his own family, who were with him around the time of his death. Hastings's widow, Elise Jordan, has said she believes his death to be "just a really tragic accident."{{cite news|last=Brubaker|first=Elizabeth|title=Elise Jordan on her late husband Michael Hastings: "He always had at least five hot stories going"|url=http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/05/elise-jordan-on-her-late-husband-michael-hastings-he-always-had-at-least-five-hot-stories-going/?hpt=pm_mid|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816073441/http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/05/elise-jordan-on-her-late-husband-michael-hastings-he-always-had-at-least-five-hot-stories-going/?hpt=pm_mid|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 16, 2013|work=CNN Blogs|publisher=CNN|access-date=August 7, 2013|date=August 5, 2013}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/michael-hastings-life-after-death-20140618|title=Michael Hastings' Life After Death|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=November 23, 2014}} Other members of his family have stated that they were concerned at the time that he was a danger to himself from his erratic behavior. His older brother Jonathan had just flown to L.A., attempting to organize some sort of family intervention for what he believed was a drug-induced "manic episode", a concern apparently echoed by others close to him at that time.

File:Al-jazeera-fbi-michael-hastings-release.pdf

The FBI file on Michael Hastings and its attachments (totaling 21 pages) were released to the public on September 24, 2013,{{cite web|title=FBI — Michael Hastings|url=http://vault.fbi.gov/michael-hastings/|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation|access-date=January 1, 2014|date=September 24, 2013}}{{cite web|title=FBI — Recently Added|url=http://vault.fbi.gov/recently-added|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation}}{{cite web|last=Curtis|first=Cartier|title=Fact Check: FBI investigating Hastings before death|url=http://news.msn.com/rumors/fact-check-fbi-investigating-hastings-before-death?stay=1|access-date=September 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054123/http://news.msn.com/rumors/fact-check-fbi-investigating-hastings-before-death?stay=1|archive-date=September 21, 2013|url-status=dead}} after investigative journalist Jason Leopold and MIT doctoral candidate Ryan Shapiro filed a joint suit in July 2013 against the FBI for ignoring their FOIA requests for the file. The FBI failed to respond to the requests within the allotted 20-day period.[https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/07/were-suing-fbi-records-journalist-michael-hastings We're Suing the FBI For Records on Journalist Michael Hastings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012201151/https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/07/were-suing-fbi-records-journalist-michael-hastings |date=October 12, 2013 }}, Freedom of the Press Foundation website; accessed April 10, 2015. On August 15, Leopold released a statement that read, "The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated that the FBI has likely located responsive records pertaining to investigative journalist Michael Hastings."[https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/08/justice-department-fbi-has-started-process-michael-hastings-documents Justice Department: FBI Has Started to Process Michael Hastings Documents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827064301/https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/blog/2013/08/justice-department-fbi-has-started-process-michael-hastings-documents |date=August 27, 2013 }}, Freedom of the Press Foundation website; accessed April 10, 2015. Al Jazeera, along with Shapiro, released results from a FOIA request showing that the FBI's Washington field office had opened a file on Hastings in June 2012 to store "unclassified media articles" and "memorialize controversial reporting by Rolling Stone magazine on June 7, 2012." The attorney who filed the FOIA lawsuit, Jeff Light, suggested that it was uncommon for the FBI to open such files on reporters.[http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/9/fbi-releases-redacteddocumentonmichaelhastings.html FBI continues to investigate Hastings for 'controversial reporting'], Al Jazeera America website; accessed April 10, 2015.Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2010; reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale, 2010.[http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC Document Number: H1000192617]

In 2013, Hastings was posthumously awarded the Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Journalism.{{cite web|url=http://omg.yahoo.com/news/maya-angelou-accepts-mailer-center-lifetime-award-024933616.html|title=Maya Angelou accepts Mailer Center lifetime award|agency=Associated Press|author=Hillel Italie|date=October 17, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018051603/http://omg.yahoo.com/news/maya-angelou-accepts-mailer-center-lifetime-award-024933616.html|archive-date=October 18, 2013|access-date=December 3, 2013}}

In 2017, The Daily Beast announced it had posted one of Hastings's quotes on the walls of their office: "There are three great beats in American journalism: politics, Hollywood, and war."{{cite web | url =https://twitter.com/JohnAvlon/status/887825165220007937 | title =We've added a quote from the late great journalist Michael Hastings to @thedailybeast newsroom | last =Avlon | first =John | date =July 19, 2017 | website =Twitter.com | access-date =November 4, 2017 | quote =We've added a quote from the late great journalist Michael Hastings to @thedailybeast newsroom }} During an MSNBC broadcast, Rachel Maddow paid tribute to Hastings after his death, saying: "Michael was angry; he was also loving and thoughtful and constructive and brilliant, but he was angry about things that weren't right in the world . . . with war and with loss, and that drove his reporting, and it made him fearless when he realized he had found something important that he could report."{{cite magazine| url =https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/videos/rachel-maddow-pays-tribute-to-michael-hastings-20130619 | title =Rachel Maddow Pays Tribute to Michael Hastings | last =Danton | first =Eric | date =June 19, 2013 | magazine =Rolling Stone | access-date =November 4, 2017 }}

• {{cite book|last=Hastings|first=Michael|title=I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story|url=https://archive.org/details/ilostmyloveinbag00hast|url-access=registration|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|year=2008|isbn=9781416560975}}
• {{cite book|last=Hastings|first=Michael|title=The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan|publisher=Blue Rider Press|location=New York|year=2012}}{{cite book|title=The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan: Michael Hastings|isbn=978-0399159886|last1=Hastings|first1=Michael|year=2012|publisher=Blue Rider Press }}
• {{cite news|title=Hack: Confessions of a Presidential Campaign Reporter|first=Michael|last=Hastings|url=https://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/200810/michael-hastings-newsweek-presidential-campaign|publisher=Gentlemen's Quarterly|date=October 2008|access-date=April 11, 2015}}
• {{cite news|title=Obama's War|first=Michael|last=Hastings|url=https://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/200904/obama-afghanistan-iraq-war-troops|publisher=Gentlemen's Quarterly|access-date=April 11, 2015}}
• {{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624014247/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2010|title=The Runaway General|magazine=Rolling Stone|first=Michael|last=Hastings|date=June 22, 2010}}
• {{cite news|last=Hastings|first=Michael|title=King David's War|newspaper=Rolling Stone|date=February 2, 2011|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/king-davids-war-20110202|access-date=April 11, 2015}}
• {{cite news |title=Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators |first=Michael |last=Hastings |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/another-runaway-general-army-deploys-psy-ops-on-u-s-senators-20110223 |newspaper=Rolling Stone |date=February 23, 2011 |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225054319/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/another-runaway-general-army-deploys-psy-ops-on-u-s-senators-20110223 |archive-date=February 25, 2011}}
• {{cite magazine|title=Inside Obama's War Room|first=Michael|last=Hastings|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-obamas-war-room-20111013|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=October 2011|access-date=April 11, 2015}}
• {{cite magazine|title=The Rise of the Killer Drones|first=Michael|last=Hastings|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-rise-of-the-killer-drones-how-america-goes-to-war-in-secret-20120416|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=April 11, 2015}}
• {{cite magazine|title=America's Last Prisoner of War|first=Michael|last=Hastings|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/americas-last-prisoner-of-war-20120607|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=April 11, 2015}}
• Articles in, inter alia, Foreign Policy, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek International, Salon, and Slate.
• {{cite book|last=Hastings|first=Michael|title=Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama's Final Campaign|date=January 15, 2013|publisher=BuzzFeed/Blue Rider Press|url=https://www.amazon.com/Panic-2012-Terrifying-Campaign-ebook/dp/B00AR48WB8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359522449&sr=8-1&keywords=panic+2012+michael+hastings|access-date=April 11, 2015}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/1/hastings Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone on the Story that Brought Down Gen. McChrystal] – video report by Democracy Now!
• {{C-SPAN|9277425}}
• [http://www.c-span.org/video/?303592-1/qa-michael-hastings C-SPAN Q&A interview with Hastings, January 29, 2012]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shKGAggOKMI Michael Hastings on CNN debating the resignation of Gen. David Petraeus with Gen. Mark Kimmitt, Lt. Col. Rick Francona, and Piers Morgan]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastings, Michael}}

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