In his final article, published June 7 by BuzzFeed, Hastings wrote of revelations that the National Security Agency was harvesting large quantities of phone and Internet information. "Perhaps more information will soon be forthcoming," the article said.

The FBI declined to say if Hastings was under investigation.

"We can neither confirm nor deny FBI investigative activity," Ari Dekofsky, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Los Angeles field office, told U.S. News. "Sometimes that can change, sometimes it can never change."

http://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram/articles/2013/06/20/wikileaks-journalist-michael-hastings-under-fbi-investigation-before-death