Mere hours before the fiery car crash that took his life, journalist Michael  Hastings sent an email to friends and colleagues urging them to get legal  counsel if they were approached by federal authorities.

“Hey [redacted] the Feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and  associates,'”read the message dated June 17th at 12:56 pm from Hastings to  editors at  the website BuzzFeed, where he worked.

“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.”