• Brennan has  has been described in secret emails from  the President of CIA contractor  Stratfor as being on a ‘witch hunt’ of investigative  journalists.
• The day he  was killed, Hastings sent an email to his editors alerting them that the federal  government was investigating him and interviewing his ‘close friends and  associates’
• Hastings’  widow says she believes his death was probably just a tragic  accident

By  Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 00:18 EST, 15  August 2013 |  UPDATED: 00:19 EST, 15 August 2013

The mysterious death of famed investigative  journalist Michael Hastings took a surprising turn this week when it was  revealed that the target of his latest expose was CIA Director John  Brennan.

Hastings was killed in a fiery car crash in  the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles about 4:25 a.m. on June 18, of this  year. Witnesses described his speeding Mercedes coup as creating sparks and  flames before it fish-tailed into a palm tree and exploded. Hastings’ body was  burned beyond recognition.

Earlier that day, Hastings had sent an email  to his editor at the website Buzzfeed alerting him that ‘the Feds are  interviewing my “close friends and associates.” Perhaps if the authorities  arrive “BuzzFeed GQ,” er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel  before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices or  related journalism issues.’

Mystery: the mystery behind the tragic death of  journalist Michael Hastings continues to grow

He added that ‘Also: I’m onto a big story,  and need to go off the radat for a bit.’

Hours later, Hastings was dead.

The big story he was working now appears to  be about spy chief Brennan, who has been described in secret emails from the  President of CIA contractor Stratfor, Fred Burton – and released by Wikileaks  -as being on a ‘witch hunt’ of investigative journalists.

Hastings’ wife, Elise Jordan, revealed on  Piers Morgan’s show on CNN earlier this month that the story Hastings was  working on at the time of his death was about Brennan. The CIA confirmed  Jordan’s claim to San Diego 6 News, which says that when they brought the  information – as well as a leaked email from Stratfor – to Brennan’s  spokesperson, he responded ‘with lightning speed.’

‘Witch hunt’: Leaked emails from a CIA contractor claim  that CIA Chief John Brennan is going after investigative journalists

Inferno: skeptics are suspicious of the intensity of the  flames that engulfed Hastings’ car the night he was killed

Reporter Kimberly Dvorak says she received  two emails from the CIA spokesman, one acknowledging that Hastings was working  on a story about the CIA, and another stating that ‘without commenting on  information disseminated by WikiLeaks, any  suggestion that Director Brennan has  ever attempted to infringe on  constitutionally-protected press freedoms is  offensive and baseless.’

Jordan says the article about Brennan will  appear in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Conspiracy theorists have jumped all over  Hastings’ death because he has a proven history of bringing down powerful people  (his Rolling Stone article about General Stanley McChrystal effectively ended  the general’s career) and a collection of secret sources within the highest  levels of government.

Beyond Recognition: Authorities had to use dental  records to identify Hastings’ body

Tragic: Elise Jordan, widow of Michael Hastings, says  his death is likely just a tragic accident

The cryptic emails aside, skeptics have asked  where was Hastings going at 4:25 a.m., when witnesses say he was speeding AWAY  from his house? Why would he be going so fast on a residential street  (authorities say he was traveling ‘at top speed’ when he hit the tree, although  that, too, has been questioned).

Those suspicious of a coverup in Hastings’  death even question the intensity of the fire that seemed to instantly engulf  Hastings’ car after it hit the tree. Some have even suggested that a device was  installed in Hastings’ car that allowed someone outside of the vehicle to  control it’s speed and direction – although, those claims have been widely  rejected as baseless, as there’s no known evidence to suggest that anyone but  Hastings was in control of the vehicle, or that such a device even  exists.

Adding to the suspicion is the fact that  several government agencies – both local and federal – have been slow to turn  over public records about the crash, despite hundreds of Freedom of Information  Act requests from journalists across the country.

When asked if she subscribes to any of the  conspiracy theories about her husband’s untimely death, Jordan says ‘the LAPD  still has an active investigation…my gut here is that it was just a really  tragic accident and I’m very unlucky and the world is very unlucky.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2394278/Renowned-investigative-journalist-Michael-Hastings-working-story-CIA-Chief-John-Brennan-time-mysterious-death.html#ixzz2c3hO2ViR Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook