Michael Hastings Researching Jill Kelley Case Before Death - LATimes

[WillyT]

Michael Hastings researching Jill Kelley case before death
By Brian Bennett - LATimes
June 20, 2013, 9:24 a.m

<snip>

WASHINGTON – During the weeks before he was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles, reporter Michael Hastings was researching a story about a privacy lawsuit brought by Florida socialite Jill Kelley against the Department of Defense and the FBI.

Hastings, 33, was scheduled to meet with a representative of Kelley next week in Los Angeles to discuss the case, according to a person close to Kelley. Hastings wrote for Rolling Stone and the website BuzzFeed.

Kelley alleges that military officials and the FBI leaked her name to the media to discredit her after she reported receiving a stream of emails that were traced to Paula Broadwell, a biographer of former CIA director David H. Petraeus, according to a lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., on June 3. Petraeus resigned from the CIA after publicly admitting that he and Broadwell had carried on an extramarital affair.

The story about Kelley, Broadwell and the Petraeus affair would have been consistent with topics that Hastings has focused on during his reporting career. His unvarnished 2010 Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan, led to McChrystal’s resignation. The story described the disdain McChrystal’s staff showed for President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Since Hasting’s death early Tuesday, wild conspiracy theories have bloomed...

<snip>

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-michael-hastings-jill-kelly-case-20130620,0,2559316.story

[zappaman]

1. Speed kills

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/06/michael_hastings_red_light_video_speeding.php

After the Weekly reported today that LAPD traffic investigators believe the car tied in reports to journalist Michael Hastings was going faster than 60 miles per hour before a fatal crash in Hollywood, we were tipped off to new video showing a vehicle blasting through a red light just moments before that collision.
The video, by freelance TV news crew LOUD LABS NEWS, shows a vehicle blazing through a red light on Highland Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, only four blocks from the crash:
The video appears to have been taken from a LOUD LABS vehicle awaiting the night's news.

Freelance videographers work the night shift in L.A. because local TV stations don't budget enough for expensive, three-person news vans to work overnight. The freelance crews listen to police scanners and sell their footage to the stations.

[flamingdem]

2. His family and friends know the answers here

Either he was known to drive recklessly or not. Either he had a drinking problem or not.

If not then there might be other reasons his vehicle accelerated that way. At that time
of night it's easy to drive around there. Well lit, not much traffic at the intersection but
Highland is dark at night because it's residential there.

[zappaman]

4. Also

Highland is very different where he ran the red light on Santa Monica and where he crashed.
As you know, the spot where he crashed is beyond Melrose where the street narrows considerably.
Still won't stop the CTers who have never driven on that road from speculation bullshit.

[flamingdem]

6. I drove Highland at night for 4 years

and can't imagine I ever went over 35 mph.

Maybe it was more but it's stop and start with all the lights.

It does go from great visibility at Melrose to darkness. Maybe a street light was out.
Drunk, tired, whatever state of mind this might have thrown him and at that speed
something might have looked odd, like he imagined a car or a cat or whatever.
There are no turns in the road there but anyone going going 60 there is reckless.

[zappaman]

19. I've driven it at all hours too.

And yeah, going 60 mph is crazy especially south of Melrose.
Unless I was in a real hurry to get to THE DAILY PINT, I wouldn't go that fast!

[sabrina 1]

39. According to friends and family, who knew him, also colleagues, who also knew him, and btw not

one of them has stated that he was known to be a drinker, but that is apparently the smear du jour, speaking of CTs, considering there is not as of now, any evidence of it, he was extremely nervous over the past number of weeks. He was certain, they say, that he was being watched by the government as very anxious, 'nervous' about it. That is a fact, a report of what those who actually know him are saying.

[geek tragedy]

41. Michael Hastings said he was a drinker and substance abuser, in the past.

I guess it would be a smear to point out that Obama smoked weed at one point in his life.

[sabrina 1]

42. His friends and family and colleagues have stated that he was very nervous and was concerned

about the government watching him. None have said he was drinking. Speculations are just that, but statements from those who knew him best are facts.

You forgot to add, conveniently, that Hastings said he was a 'recovering alcoholic' who was not drinking. I don't recall anything from him saying 'I fell off the wagon'. You really should try to post facts, and not pass off your speculations as facts. Until someone who knew him, or the toxicology reports say otherwise, there is nothing to back up your CTs.

[geek tragedy]

44. Okay, so he was nervous with a past history of substance abuse.

The facts, any way you spin them, point towards "tragic accident" and not "nefarious conspiracy."

[zappaman]

45. You left out speeding...

on a residential street.

[geek tragedy]

46. That's just physics, man. nt

[mhatrw]

91. So "physics" can tell the difference between a driver and an accelerator malfunction? n/t

[sabrina 1]

58. Since I said nothing at all about how the accident may or may not have happened you might want to

direct your comment to someone who did, such as the person to whom I have been resonding, Zappaman.

Zappaman knows how it happened, he insists that he does, he's been arguing that he knows what no one else knows.

Had you not knee jerk reacted, you would have seen that it is I who have been trying to stop him from spreading around CTs.

What is not a CT is what those close to him have said, which is that he was axious about being watched. Not an unwarranted fear in a country where we know that our records are being collected and stored or whatever by the government.

[geek tragedy]

59. If one is not alleging a conspiracy, one is not advancing a conspiracy theory.

Moreover, the facts that are known unanimously point towards "tragic accident."

[Aerows]

107. I thought you were one of the good guys

I don't know what you are doing here. It seems like apologizing, which is what you have been doing all week.

A tragedy, indeed.

[zappaman]

60. Nice try.

I know an accident is far more likely since I know that road, and we have video of him traveling at a high rate of speed, and we have witnesses saying he was going 100mph.
Not only that, I have never said I was certain and in fact said we would have to wait for the investigation to know for sure.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3048707

But go ahead and make things up.
You're good at that.

[Aerows]

108. That's fine and I agree with you

But I guess the relentless attacks on anyone that disagrees with the Obama Administration's policies on spying on Americans, a policy he can rescind, makes some folks a bit tetchy.

[zappaman]

43. not a smear, but a fact

you can try to turn this into a murder all you want, but so far it looks like an accident.
maybe you will wait until the report before investing in a CT?

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/06/michael_hastings_crash_engine_flew_speeding_recovery.php

The writer does have a history with alcohol and drugs, however. In his first book, I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story, Hastings says that he crashed a car in a drunk driving accident when he was 19.

And in this True/Slant piece from 2009 Hastings describes himself as a "a recovering drunk/addict/screw-up."

In another True/Slant piece he says, "I have smoked crack."

[sabrina 1]

75. Obama and Bush have admitted to smoking also. So what? Is there anyone in the country who

has NOT when young, tried one drug or another? Bush was an alcoholic until he was 40 according to him. Still, his policies are now the law in this country. So what's your point?

Anyhow, the latest news reports state that Hastings had sent an email saying that his 'friends were being questioned by the FBI and that he was working on a big story and needed to go under the radar for a while'. Today's news. These are facts, not CTs or opinions. We will most likely be hearing more from his friends and colleagues. Now we know why he was nervous. And we do know one of the stories he was working on.

[pnwmom]

84. Unfortunately, many legal medications can cause nervousness and agitation.

The ritalin type drugs often used by college students can cause symptoms like this.

A 29 year old in our extended family died suddenly at home, and the only thing in his system was a normal dose of his prescribed medication. He had had a few days of agitation, according to his neighbors, before he died.

[sabrina 1]

89. So now he was crazy and on medication? Could you provide something to back that up?

[pnwmom]

90. People don't take ritalin because they're crazy.

And I didn't say that he was crazy or on any particular medication.

I'm saying that a legal or illegal drug is one of the possible explanations for his anxiety and his driving behavior. If he'd had a stroke or heart attack, that could also explain his driving. We won't know unless and until his family or the police have completed an autopsy and toxicology reports.

[sabrina 1]

97. Of course we don't know. What we do know now is that he was aware that he was being

spied on by the FBI and he was also working on a 'big story' that he felt made it necessary for him to go below the radar for a while.

Why would the FBI be spying on a journalist? Is that legal? Was HE in their opinion guilty of a crime which caused them to be interviewing his friends and colleagues? I would think that for the FBI to be that interested in a journalist, he would have to have done something very wrong.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

110. Slight correction

We don't KNOW he was spied upon by the FBI, what we know is that *he* suspected/believed he was, there is a slight difference between the two.

I must admit i wish there were more details about this out in the open since there is to little to know anything for sure one way or another.

Caveat: I'm not saying he wasn't being spied upon(which very well might be true but we have no firm evidence one way or another yet), simply that it might have been somebody else doing it if it happened.

[JI7]

61. maybe if he was not familiar with the area

since it's like 4 am and a weekday the streets are probably more empty . in that entire area in the busy hours you usually can't get away with driving that fast just because it's so crowded.

but lets say they were more empty so he starts driving faster than usual and then suddenly enters a more narrow area which he didn't expect.

so even if he wasn't drinking i can easily see one getting into an accident if they were driving as fast as he was.

[hedgehog]

29. Thank you for the info.

[MADem]

53. He had a substance abuse past--and the video is on YOUTUBE.

You can see the car whip by--there doesn't seem to be any effort to slow it down or deviate. It might not have had anything to do with acceleration--just a simple case of no traffic in the still of the night, and speed too fast for conditions.

Maybe he was sober as a judge but in a hurry to get somewhere and he just fucked up. Maybe he was exhausted and just fell asleep at the wheel. Time and the autopsy will tell.

[warrprayer]

63. you seem to have

quite a vested interest in this.

[zappaman]

64. Nope.

Drive down the street every day though and know it well.
Passed the accident site this morning and I hope it gives people pause not to go 100 mph down this street even at 4AM.

What's your interest?

[warrprayer]

65. I was looking at the thread earlier with all the tree jokes

I guess some people think it's hilarious when one of the few journalists in this country who actually does what reporters are supposed to do dies a hideous, untimely and SUSPICIOUS death. Hardee-fucking har.

[zappaman]

68. It's a bummer.

But what is suspicious about someone dying after running a red light at a high rate of speed and then 4 blocks later slamming into a tree on a street while going an estimated 100mph?

[warrprayer]

70. yeah you have a point

funny though shit like this always happens to people like Paul Wellstone and Aaron Swartz, never to Wolf Blitzer or Geraldo....

[geek tragedy]

74. Breitbart is still dead. nt

[warrprayer]

102. yeah

whatever that means. You think Hastings is like Brietbart or something?

[geek tragedy]

103. Point is sometimes the evil ones die young too, e.g. dead Andy Breitbart nt

[warrprayer]

104. o.k. got it n/t

[mhatrw]

92. It's suspicious BECAUSE he was going so fast!

Have you ever ONCE traveled down that road that fast? Why or why not?

[hfojvt]

99. one of the few?

He strikes me as more of a tabloid journalist - writing about people, digging up dirt about people.

We could use more journalists who would write about facts - about issues.

People come and go, but thanks to an misinformed public - the Bush tax cuts are forever.

[warrprayer]

67. before you ask...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023052893

here it is. A truly disgusting piece of crap.

[allin99]

72. thanks for the post. i can't stand conspiracy theories. i'm bringing this to facebook...

everyone's posting about the crash. i think it's good for people to at least look into the possibility of foul play, but always necessary to look for the truth.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. I wonder if through Kelley

Hastings got too close to PRISM?

Oh and the comments at Dulles have not seen light of day beyond the twitter from Clemoons.

Yes, we have cause to be concerned

[HooptieWagon]

8. Kelley's circle of contacts were largely with CentCom...

Which is HQ'd at MacDill AFB in Tampa. I haven't heard that she had any contact with NSA, or CIA either for that matter. She did have an FBI contact, although lower level.
As far as can be determined, she was just a social-climber...seeking status through high level military friends...although she also appears to have been on lookout for grifting opportunities. She, husband, and sister spent far beyond their means, and had big financial problems.
I think her lawsuit is just an attempt at a payoff...as near as I can tell it has no merit. Its not even in the local news here. Peep are pretty sick of her.

[flamingdem]

10. Yeah, this was a wacky gossipy story but hard to believe it had much gravitas

unless Hastings could tie it into a bigger corruption story.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Cause we all know

There is absolutely nothing to see here.

Sorry, CEMTCOM relies on NSA for quite a bit of it's SigInt. (Oops just triggered the dictionary)

[Catherina]

20. This may have been less about her lawsuit and more about

This may have been less about her lawsuit and more about the FBI and his emails.

[HooptieWagon]

47. Thats possible.

She was acquainted with a local FBI field agent she met at a self-defense class or something. She went to him inre the threatening emails, he tried to push the investigation along with little success until he went outside agency to political contacts to lean on agency from Congressional direction.
Her lawsuit is inre to her name being released to media, and resultant unfavorable publicity. I don't think it has merit.

I suspect you are right...Hastings involvement likely was inre to tracing the emails. Did FBI go to NSA to obtain the emails, and was a warrant obtained? Good questions, in light of recent disclosures.

[Catherina]

50. Look at this timeline

Kpete posted this last year Petraeus, Rove, and Paula Broadwell: I Smell A Rat

June 11, 2012 - Broadwell pictured with Rove, who tweets about it in June.
June-August, 2012 - FBI receives complaint about "harassing emails" sent by Broadwell to Jill Kelley
October 26, 2012 - Fox News "Exclusive" claiming CIA requested and was refused reinforcements.
October 26, 2012 - Broadwell pimps the Fox News version of events at a University of Denver symposium
October 28, 2012 - Rove hammers and expands on it in an interview on Fox News
Approximately October 28-31, 2012 - FBI confronts Petraeus and interviews him about emails, determines no breaches of national security have taken place.
October 31, 2012 - Cantor Chief of Staff contacted by Rep. Dave Reichert about FBI 'whistleblower'. Cantor says he contacted the FBI immediately.
November 6, 2012 - Barack Obama wins re-election
November 6, 2012 - James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence) informed of FBI investigation
November 8, 2012 - Petraeus submits resignation
November 9, 2012 - Resignation accepted

I can't spend much time on this but there were a lot of suspicions at DU that none of this looked right and DUers are hardly Petraeus fans. I wish there was more time to look into all this. The way things are going, things like this may start coming out. I hope so.

[reusrename]

71. It looks like the affair was an open secret, used as a fig leaf.

My guess he was asked to resign over the war crimes.

The chronology is too precise for it to be anything else.

He was in charge of the drone program when the "double tap" drone strikes occurred.

These were the strikes that targeted emergency responders in violation of the First Geneva Convention. Any "grave breach" in any of the international conventions signed at Geneva 12 August 1949, or any protocol to such convention to which the United States is a party is a war crime under US law.

The "double tap" strikes were made public about a month before Obama's re-election, Petraeus was asked to resign a couple of days after the vote. About a month later the UN announced the investigation into the attacks.

I don't think Obama can have a known war criminal reporting to him directly. Also, this particular terror tactic is known to fuel hostilities. Petreaus would know this. These actions seem to be in direct opposition to Obama's stated goals in the region.

[JW2020]

79. Special Operations Command is also at MacDill

NSA and CIA are heavily invested in what goes on at MacDill AFB.

[geek tragedy]

13. Those who approach life as if it were a Tom Clancy novel should be concerned.

Those of us not prone to silly and frivolous extrapolations, not so much.

The "getting access to PRISM via the socialite" theory is one of your better efforts, though.

[alcibiades_mystery]

66. This has become a hobby space for wackadoos

Once upon a time, there was serious political discussion.

[geek tragedy]

69. Supposedly the 9/11 Dungeon is supposed to be the place for this.

Instead, we're getting the leftwing version of "who killed Vince Foster?"

Though nothing will beat this for loon awesomeness:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x56836

Can a jet fuel/hydrocarbon fire collapse a steel structure? An experiment.
Edited on Wed Oct-05-05 06:29 PM by spooked911
I set up the following experiment using steel rabbit fencing as the steel structure supporting a heavy cement block.

Note, this fencing is easily bendable, has no significant rigidity, and was not reinforced in any way. The fencing was bent into an outer square and an inner rectangle (the core):


Then I damaged the "columns" by cutting them with wire cutters:



Just inside where the gash was made in the outer wall, I placed a cup of kerosene (jet fuel), and there was newspaper around the bottom on the structure.

Then I put a heavy cement block on top, weighing about 15 pounds. I don't think the wire structure would hold more than three of these blocks, so the "safety factor" was not particularly high.


Then I tipped over the cup and lit the kerosene:



Then fire burned for about twenty minutes, and toward the end, I put my foot on the structure to see if it would extra weight. It still did:


The structure held up fine after the fire died:


After the fire was hot, the "columns" were not hot at all:



In a second experiment, I used the same wire fence and block set up, but increased the amount of "airplane damage", added in newspaper all around the inside of the structure, and soaked everything thoroughly with kerosene. In this expt, the fire was more intense and lasted significantly longer, but... the structure held up just fine. (Sorry no pictures of this one).

What I conclude is that a fairly flimsy steel structure does not distort and bend and collapse very easily from a simple hydrocarbon fire. And thus, it is not clear why the much stronger steel columns in the WTC towers weakened so much from fires that the towers underwent global collapse.

If kerosene/jet fuel/hydrocarbon fires can indeed cause steel structures to collapse, it should be quite simple to show this in an experiment-- right?

It's better with the pictures.

[mhatrw]

93. Luckily, you folks are here to set us straight.

Spying on us is good for us, and anything, not matter how bizarre, that looks like it might be an accident should never be suspected to perhaps be a result of foul play.

[Catherina]

14. It's possible he did judging by his tweets for interest at the time and....

I remember finding the whole Petraeus email excuse quite odd at the time. Now it just stinks.

The FBI uncovered the Petraeus affair while it investigated e-mails that his paramour, Paula Broadwell, allegedly sent to a Petraeus family friend, Jill Kelley, according to a U.S. official. Kelley, meanwhile, is the woman to whom Allen allegedly sent inappropriate e-mails, according to the Defense Department.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/14/us/petraeus-what-we-know

Theoretically, if they want to get to a political candidate, we'll use John Edwards as an example, all they need to do is phone in a *tip* to the press and tell them to be there with their cameras for a good show.

How did the whole Elliot Spitzer scandal come to light? You know, they AG who was fighting them on using the State Police for surveillance? It was the duplicitous New York Times that kept breaking the Spitzer story.

After obtaining authorization to tap the club’s phones, federal agents recorded more than 5,000 calls and text messages and had access to 6,000 e-mail messages, court papers said. Many of these were somewhat mundane requests for appointments. The authorities — the case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and the F.B.I. — did not identify any of the clients.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/nyregion/07prostitution.html?_r=0

On March 10, 2008, The New York Times reported that Spitzer had previously patronized a high-priced prostitution service ... This information originally came to the attention of authorities from a federal wiretap.... Spitzer first drew the attention of federal investigators when his bank reported suspicious money transfers, which initially led investigators to believe that Spitzer may have been hiding bribe proceeds. The investigation of the governor led to the discovery of the prostitution ring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. You will see no more pols talking against this

They get out of line...

[snooper2]

25. careful reporting on this- you know the NSA is keeping tabs on you

Don't get to close Nadin,

It might not be safe to leave the house anymore! Stay inside!

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. You know what is hilarious of this post of yours?

This is exactly what authoritarian states want...oh the irony.

[geek tragedy]

32. Authoritarian states want people who advance loony-tunes conspiracy theories to get

made fun of?

Gee, they've really lost their edge.

[zappaman]

33. aye yi yi...

[delrem]

77. Authoritarian states want a lot of people like you to have their back.

[geek tragedy]

78. "People like me" please elaborate nt

[mhatrw]

94. Who benefits when people pretend that only accidents happen?

[HooptieWagon]

5. The severity of the crash indicates he was speeding.

I don't think thats in dispute.
The question is why was he speeding? Under the influence? Health issue? Being persued? In a hurry and reckless? Distracted by texting, etc?

I haven't seen any evidence yet that points to a single cause, or eliminates a possible cause.

[flamingdem]

7. Gak. Texting at that speed is pure insanity considering the density

I'm going for exhausted and too many drinks, wanting to rush home, distracted by his latest findings.

If there is a conspiracy that had to do with acceleration, that's very James Bond, and I suppose the
forensics would find it. CSI Hollywood

[HooptieWagon]

9. I've seen some pretty idiotic stunts inre texting...

although it tends to be teens and early twenties...younger than Hastings. That should be the easiest to determine, though, since ph records will indicate use at time or not.

[monmouth3]

11. Were his brakes tampered with?..n/t

[HooptieWagon]

48. Not likely.

Thats only in movies. Tampering with brakes only effective if downhill on mountain road. On level ground, simply remove foot from gas and coast to a stop. Plus, its difficult to design exactly when brakes fail, and too easily discovered.
Central computer, affecting throttle and/or anti-lock brakes, could possibly be tampered with. But again unlikely since it requires access to the computer and would leave evidence.

[nolabels]

82. You don't know much about how autos are programed and operated today i would presume

It would be easy and wouldn't take a whole lot of money to intertwine a remote control into a auto that is even thirty years old. Also would bet it would only be a favor from somebody(s) to do it on the side or even otherwise. We are talking about a guy that could be worth a lot for some lobby activity or other consulting work for defense contractors (who's job it is to make things for the government that will kill people). Do we really not have those kind of motives here?

[HooptieWagon]

83. Then you presume wrong.

I have worked on my own vehicles for over 40 years, had past employment as a mechanic, owned an auto parts wholesale/retail business, and even raced cars on a few occasions.

It is not "easy and inexpensive" to rig a full-sized auto for remote control. It is time-consuming and expensive, and would leave physical and software evidence that the car was altered. Police found no such evidence. Witnesses state no following vehicle.

[nolabels]

95. Rigging the accelerator signal to a remote would not be that difficult

I have been a truck mechanic for 34 years and daily have diesel engines operate and accelerate remotely to perform service operations. Any engine that is operated electronically is vulnerable for such a high-jacking. I spent five minutes on the web to find this but i am quite sure i could find a more perfect fit if i wanted to waste my time in confirming what i already know.

http://www.ranchsystems.com/manuals/EngineControl.html#section5.2

[HooptieWagon]

96. And the police would have discovered evidence of remote control linkage to throttle body.

Regardless, any remote throttle control or sabotage of engine computer is easily thwarted by shifting transmission to neutral and bringing car to a stop.

[nolabels]

98. That is not my trade and i was answering the other poster who said it couldn't be done

By trade, i fix things and try to understand how they broke in the first place. I am not an automotive engineer but with the right kind of cash and connections most anything could probably be done for people with need for it.

From the picture, if that was the actual car fire it will be hard to find out what happened. They will probably say he was drunk or something and sweep it under the rug. They probably had a hard time finding a high-rise window for him to jump out of in L.A.

I don't know what kind of car it was but it sure seems odd he wasn't able to get out of the car because it happened on a city street and mostly speeds are slower there. And strange the car burst into flames so wildly so quickly. Most later model cars have hard plastic gas tanks to prevent such catastrophic flame-outs.

Many of us that have been hanging around on DU for all these years have seen a lot of these weird deaths of key people mostly know it just too hard to explain it as chance. But have fun debating it

[HooptieWagon]

100. You responded to my post.

No one has yet answered why someone (presumably secret govt agent types) would go to the trouble of rigging a remote control throttle, when said sabotage can easily be neutralized by the driver placing the transmission in neutral. And then it would be discovered.
If the govt has sqauds of hitmen sitting around conjuring ways to kill someone, why would they use a method likely to fail and be discovered?

The thing with CTs... one has to suspend a great deal of common sense to believe them.

[nolabels]

109. Who said it would be the government?

The motive and who(if that's what happened) set it up and how it happened might be what is tripping you up. No single event would prove the aggregate in theory anyway. I was looking for a pattern here. Mostly one thing is a sure thing here, is that people, just like most every other living thing have habits and patterns in their being. I don't know what is right or wrong here, my thinking is that there are possibly nefarious activities here and the burden would be more on you to prove it was a result of the deceased miscalculations if you felt some need to call my suspicions wrong. This is indicating an definitive cause would be needed as for the reason the accident happened. With the inferno after the crash, it will be much more difficult to determine in what exactly happened. Which coincidentally is same M.O. we have been looking at here at DU with these cases for quite awhile now.

[HooptieWagon]

111. Still haven't addressed fact that throttle sabotage easily disabled...

by shifting to neutral and safely braking to a stop.

Hitmen aren't going to sit around inventing the most complicated method. There are too many details to go wrong, too many people involved that have to remain quiet, and too many chances of being detected or caught. They are going to use a method that is the simplest, and involves the fewest people.

[Berlum]

51. Lovely that you have been able to rule out SUA

...and the possibility that his vehicle was monkeyed with to produce SUA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_unintended_acceleration

Where are you getting your "facts" to make this pronouncement? You are so far ahead of the rest of the world. Nice to have INSIDE INFO, eh?

[HooptieWagon]

54. Huh? I haven't ruled out anything.

Its possible there was a computer failure leading to unintended acceleration, but I have never heard of it being a problem with Mercedes. And its possible the computer chip could be re-programmed or switched, causing unintended acceleration...but that requires access to the computer, which is inside the car under the dash or behind kick-panels. And monkeying with the computer would leave the evidence behind in the form of substituted software. Although the computer was likely destroyed in the fire in this case, that wasn't a guarantee so the risk of discovery was high.
Like I said, although there is the possibility of sabotaging the car, the actual probability is low, since the risk of discovery before or after an accident would be too high to risk.

If there was a plot to kill him, possible since he received death threats, then there were ways of doing so with less risk of discovery.

[laundry_queen]

86. Going all out tinfoil here - but what about

an "on star" like system? You know how you can report a stolen vehicle and On Star will shut the vehicle down remotely? I wonder if it's possible to cause acceleration remotely. How on earth could that even be traced?

[HooptieWagon]

88. OnStar is a GM system.

Last edited Sun Jun 23, 2013, 10:17 PM - Edit history (1)

I don't know if Mercedes has a similar system.
OnStar doesn't have a remote shut-down feature, since that would be dangerous. There are 3 anti-theft systems in OnStar. 1) Tracking of a stolen vehicle's location, direction, and speed through the car's GPS. This is a passive system. 2) Remote ignition lock. This prevents re-starting the vehicle once its been turned off. It doesn't shut off a running vehicle. 3) Remote vehicle slow-down. This system instructs the on board computer to stop sending a signal to the throttle body, causing the throttle body to shut, returning the engine to idle. The reason for this is that if a running vehicle is remotely and suddenly shut off, it creates a danger to occupants and others because of suddenly losing power-assist to steering and brakes. Also, the vehicle could stop in the middle of a highway or intersection, causing a hazard. By causing the car to return to idle, the car can still be steered and braked and parked in a safe position. Note that this system does not control the position of the throttle, it merely ceases to send a signal to the throttle causing it to return to idle.

Any remote anti-theft system is going to operate in a similar manner. Any system will have protections and failsafe operations...it would be unacceptable for the system to be influenced by garage door openers, cell phones, and similar ambient radio wave sources.
To control the throttle remotely would require the cars system be redesigned, re-programmed,
and installed. Then, cooperation of OnStars service centers would be required to remotely control the car. This is a conspiracy requiring the cooperation and silence of dozens of people. And the remote throttle plan is easily defeated by shifting the transmission into neutral and coming to a stop.

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. He did get death threats

He did a AMA on Redditt last year and told about the threats you can view the link here

:http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/uaha0/iam_michael_hastings_a_reporter_for_buzzfeed_and/c4tri20



I would say an accident until I heard about the motor on his new Mercedes being blown 100 feet which raised an eyebrow on me . However I think the fire would make a complete investigation
negligible now.


He was playing with fire with powerful people even though they are not in the government now XCIA Petraus, X special forces McCrystal , NSA etc. So if they know how to rig a car to make it look like an accident you are dealing with the best of the best.


I hope it was an accident


Where's Columbo?


And just one more thing....

LOL

[Catherina]

17. Great find. Straight from his own lips. I'm posting it here

so I can put it in my journal

Have you ever been warned/threatened by any of the interests whose power your style of reporting threatens to jeopardize?

[–]Michael_Hastings[S] 6 points 1 year ago

Yes. Every once and awhile, I'll get a death threat from someone--like, "if we don't like what you write, we'll hunt you down and kill you" kind of thing. But there's a more insidious response most of the time when you piss off the powerful. They come after your career, they try to come after your credibility. They do cocktail party whisper campaigns. They try to make you "controversial." Sadly, The Powers That Be are often aided by other journalists.

The Pentagon has launched three investigations into stories I've done over the past 18 months under the pretense of finding the wrongdoing we were exposing. But the investigations were really about creating a Pentagon approved official document to criticize journalism they don't like.

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/uaha0/iam_michael_hastings_a_reporter_for_buzzfeed_and/c4tri20

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

18. Knee Jerk Reflex to "wild conspiracy theories" whenever anything bad may be linked to gov

Since this just happened how do they know it is not connected to bad actors in the gov?

I will wait and see what else turns up before dismissing that possibility.

thanks for posting

[geek tragedy]

23. lots of wild, knee-jerk conspiracy theories being offered right in this thread.

Good stuff--my favorite is how Hastings was using this socialite to gain access to the NSA's data mining programs.

[zappaman]

24. Of course!

Are you surprised by the lunacy?
These same folks will laugh at those on the right who claim Breitbart was killed, but this has to be a murder!!!

[geek tragedy]

26. These people would have rushed ahead of the Freepers to be the first to accuse Hillary of

having Vince Foster and Ron Brown killed.

But, of course, we're sheeple because we don't entertain their Creative Speculation without evidence.

[zappaman]

28. Don't forget we are authoritarians as well.

No dissent allowed from the holier-than-thous on this site, who for some strange reason, seem very libertarian.
Time to change DU to LU???

[geek tragedy]

30. They use "authoritarian" the way Hannity uses "liberal."

It's the meaningless intensifier--don't like someone, call them an authoritarian/liberal/whatever.

[JW2020]

80. Did Bush steal the 2000 election?

[geek tragedy]

81. There was evidence of that. nt

[struggle4progress]

27. "Lacking evidence, let's not rule out the possibility of a gigantic government conspiracy here!"

Oh, thank you for posting!

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

34. Thanks for illustrating the point

[geek tragedy]

35. Has the involvement of extra-terrestrials from the Crab Nebula been ruled out by

an investigation?

Maybe Justin Bieber did it.

Have to keep an open mind.

[zappaman]

36. Those scenarios are far more likely than an accident.

Accidents don't happen in CT Land.

[geek tragedy]

37. Accidents don't happen. 'Accidents' happen.

Halle Berry must have crossed the wrong people.

[zappaman]

38. ask Elvis

[struggle4progress]

40. Holy shizz! I didn't even know Halle Berry was dead! There's a well-orchestrated cover-up here!

Could she be the person who's actually buried in Elvis Presley's grave?

[struggle4progress]

21. Jill Kelley lawsuit alleges lost business, social snubbing after Petraeus scandal

Taking a deep dive into Jill Kelley’s federal lawsuit against the government. . . The Tampa woman and her doctor husband allege what they lost when officials let their names leak into the news in connection with the David Petraeus scandal: Party invitations dried up; an organization that had asked her to join its board suddenly stopped calling; and “millions of dollars” of potential real estate and other business deals have vanished, they claim ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2013/06/07/jill-kelley-lawsuit-alleges-lost-business-social-snubbing-after-petraeus-scandal/

[struggle4progress]

22. Woman at center of Petraeus scandal, Jill Kelley sues government over breach of privacy

3 Jun 2013 7:44pm, EDT
By Pete Williams and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

... Kelley's complaint to the FBI began an sprawling investigation that eventually revealed Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell had sent the emails and uncovered evidence that she had been having an affair with the four star general. Petraeus resigned from his position as CIA director last November — and days later Kelley's name was leaked to the media. A series of headlines ensued about the 38-year-old mother, specifically about her relationship with U.S. General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. The two exchanged numerous emails, some of which U.S. officials described as "inappropriate," but Allen was eventually cleared of any wrong doing and retired in February ...

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/03/18729250-woman-at-center-of-petraeus-scandal-jill-kelley-sues-government-over-breach-of-privacy?lite

[Berlum]

49. Bollixed up behind the Benghazi Scandal (R)

The RepubliWankers have a hugh mess O' crap hiding behind their phony poutrage about Behghazi, since essentially Republicans and their operatives are totally to blame for this and the sinful, awful evil truths it is obscuring. Republican OCCULTISM is a colossal cancerous turd on the soul of America.

[Jackpine Radical]

52. Just a weird thought--Maybe he was running from someone?

Like, maybe one of those rat-shot suicides was being arranged for him...

[Vinnie From Indy]

55. Why are so many people so quick to render judgment in this case?

He might have been assassinated. That is still a possibility.

Cheers!

[geek tragedy]

56. Because there's no evidence to back up the conspiracy loons on this nt

[Smarmie Doofus]

57. +1. It's important not to jump to conclusions; but speculation is in order...

... and even responsible.

This is a guy who did tremendously controversial and dangerous expose journalism and was threatened with death on numerable occasions.

Why it bothers certain DUers that other DUers would think it important that a cause for the "accident" be pinned down is a curiosity in itself.

If I felt confident that Hasting's death was accidental I couldn't imagine a more boring thread in which to invest my time and energy.

[warrprayer]

62. this guy will never have to worry

[Zen Democrat]

73. There won't be a rush to conclusion on this. There will be an investigation.

To prematurely claim murder or to prematurely claim accident is ... premature. To put people down for speculation when the facts aren't known seems a little desperate to me.

[womanofthehills]

76. and don't forget about the runaway Lexus accelerating to 120 miles

"Two California drivers have filed a class action lawsuit against Toyota over design defects that allegedly caused over 2,000 incidents where Toyota and Lexus cars to suddenly accelerated to high speeds. These Toyota acceleration problems have resulted in 16 deaths and 243 injuries.
The acceleration problems have gained more press exposure following an accident in California which killed a state trooper and three of his family members. The 911 recording from his brother-in-law in the backseat has been widely played. In this incident, a Lexus accelerated to 120 miles per hour before crashing and bursting into flames. Witnesses reported that the car’s tires were on fire minutes before the accident. This suggests that the driver was hitting the brakes."

http://www.mlnlaw.com/class-action-lawsuit-filed-over-toyota-acceleration-problems.html

It creeps me out as I have a Toyota Rav4.

[HooptieWagon]

101. They could have shifted the transmission to neutral.

There were instances of UA in Toyotas. I have never heard of it occurring in a Mercedes.

[Fire Walk With Me]

85. Hacking into cars

Last edited Tue Jun 25, 2013, 08:18 PM - Edit history (1)

ABCNT عبسنت ‏@ABCNT1

@MLKstudios @cenkuygur @endarken
Hacking into cars
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/can-your-car-be-hacked-feature … |

…

[WillyT]

87. Thank You For That !!!

[olddots]

105. nobody mention Ernie Kovak's crash .

????????

[Raine]

106. hmmmmmm interesting. nt