Michael Hastings

17 Stories

Hastings Thought His Car Was Being Tampered With

Journalist was 'agitated' the last days of his life

(Newser) - At 12:30am on the morning he died, an agitated Michael Hastings went to his neighbor and friend Jordanna Thigpen and asked to borrow her car. He said he was afraid to drive his own car, because he believed that someone had been tampering with it. "He was scared,... More »

Journalist Hastings' Family Planned Intervention

But coroner says drugs didn't play role in crash

(Newser) - The coroner's report about the fatal car crash of journalist Michael Hastings paints the picture of a troubled man: It quotes an unidentified relative as saying the family was about to stage an intervention because the 33-year-old Hastings had started abusing drugs again after 14 years, reports the Los ... More »

There's More to Uncover in Gen. Allen Emails: Lawmaker

Speier calls on Pentagon to reopen investigation of emails between Allen and Jill Kelley

(Newser) - A member of the House Armed Services Committee is calling on Chuck Hagel to reopen the investigation into Gen. John Allen and his emails with socialite Jill Kelley , claiming the Pentagon never actually subpoenaed many of the private emails between the pair. California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier says the investigation... More »

Hastings Sent Alarming Email Day Before Death

Reporter said feds were interviewing his friends, he was working on 'big story'

(Newser) - Michael Hastings emailed his BuzzFeed colleagues that "the Feds are interviewing my 'close friends and associates,'" reports Huffington Post , adding that he was onto "a big story, and need to go off the rada[r] for a bit." Fifteen hours later, Hastings was dead in... More »

Hastings Died While Investigating Jill Kelley

He was to meet with a rep for her next week

(Newser) - Well this should provide some grist for the conspiracy theory mill: Michael Hastings was working on a piece about a privacy lawsuit from Jill Kelley before his fatal car crash . (You might remember Kelley from her role in David Petraeus' scandalous love quadrangle .) Hastings was scheduled to meet with... More »

Journo Hastings' Car Was Speeding Before Death: Cop

Conspiracy theories emerge

(Newser) - The car carrying journalist Michael Hastings —in which he was apparently the only person, the New York Times notes—was likely speeding before he died in a crash, says a former LAPD cop. The car's motor was found some 100 feet away from the vehicle, suggesting the driver... More »

Reporter Who Brought Down Gen. McChrystal Dead at 33

Michael Hastings killed in LA car crash

(Newser) - Rolling Stone and Buzzfeed are mourning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings, who has been killed in a car crash in Los Angeles. The 33-year-old—described by Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith as a "great, fearless journalist with an incredible instinct for the story"—was best known for... More »

Reporter: Blame Benghazi for Obama's Debate Fail

Prez was preoccupied, says Michael Hastings

(Newser) - Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stone reporter best known for his article that led to Gen. Stanley McChrystal's resignation, says he knows why President Obama performed so poorly in his first debate against Mitt Romney: Benghazi. Hastings, who has been researching for a book on the 2012 election, tells the... More »

Hillary Aide to Reporter: Eff Off

Philippe Reines unloads on Michael Hastings

(Newser) - When you're a top State Department aide and you dump on a Buzzfeed reporter, it might be a good idea not to put it in an email. Philippe Reines, Hillary Clinton's long-time aide and personal spokesman, called reporter Michael Hastings—the writer who got Gen. Stanley McChrystal to... More »

Inquiry Into Rolling Stone Article Clears McChrystal

Pentagon finds no evidence of wrongdoing

(Newser) - The Defense Department has cleared Gen. Stanley McChrystal of all wrongdoing following the inspector general's inquiry into last year's controversial Rolling Stone article . In the article, senior aides to McChrystal were quoted as making disparaging remarks about the Obama administration; one aide, for example, referred to Vice President... More »

Rolling Stone McChrystal Reporter Denied Embed Post

Writer's 'not trustworthy,' says official

(Newser) - The Rolling Stone reporter who got Gen. Stanley McChrystal fired has been denied permission to join US troops in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced. "There is no right to embed," said Defense Department spokesman David Lapan. "A key element of an embed is having trust that the individuals... More »

Hastings: I Didn't Think McChrystal Fallout Was Possible

McCain thinks Obama did right in canning McChrystal, and more

(Newser) - Wunderscribe Michael Hastings chewed over the fallout from his Rolling Stone profile today, Politico reports, telling CNN that he "didn't even think it was possible." He also dismissed rumblings from the McChrystal camp that he used off-the-record comments, saying, “Some of the most talked about parts of... More »

McChrystal Allies Say Reporter Broke Ground Rules

Military, Rolling Stone offer differing accounts

(Newser) - Stanley McChrystal's allies are pushing back against the notion that he and and his staff made their disparaging remarks on the record and had no qualms about seeing them published. They tell the Washington Post that Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings broke agreed-upon ground rules by quoting them in off-the-record... More »

Troops Glad McChrystal's Gone: Rolling Stone Writer

Reporter 'very surprised' by 'unfireable' general's ouster

(Newser) - The journalist whose Rolling Stone exposé got Stanley McChrystal fired says troops in Afghanistan are thanking him. "Over here, soldiers were happy that he got fired," Michael Hastings, who's embedded in Afghanistan, tells the Huffington Post . "I've had a number of people come up to me, I... More »

McChrystal Burned by Our 'Culture of Exposure'

Reporter plays by the new rules, and the general didn't know them

(Newser) - Used to be that public figures—politicians and military types, say—could bitch about their bosses in front of reporters, and that stuff would never make it into the story, writes David Brooks. Now it is the story. Stanley McChrystal somehow missed this development, and his "run-of-the-mill complaining" cost... More »

McChrystal Journalist Is No Hack

Michael Hastings' writing includes a riveting Iraq memoir

(Newser) - Why did Stanley McChrystal even agree to meet with a Rolling Stone writer? Maybe because that writer was Michael Hastings, a highly respected journalist who’s written for a host of publications. Business Insider highlights some of his more notable stories:
  • I Lost My Love in Baghdad: In this incredible
... More »

Booze, Volcano Delays Helped McChrystal Reporter

General, crew 'let loose' on bus trip

(Newser) - Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings got unprecedented access to Stanley McChrystal with a little help from our old buddy Eyjafjallajökull. Hastings was supposed to meet McChrystal for two days in Paris and two days in Afghanistan. But thanks to the volcano, Hastings and McChrystal were “stuck” in Paris... More »

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