It seems the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could, at least in theory, murder you by hacking into your car's computer, according to the pro-transparency group Wikileaks. And now, with some of the rogue agency's hacking tools and methods available on cyberspace, any common criminal with some computer knowledge might be able to do so as well. It remains unclear whether the CIA, which brags about its mass murder, has actually murdered anyone by hacking their car. But reasonable suspicions about the possibility have been floating around for years — especially since the suspicious “car crash” death of journalist Michael Hastings, who was involved in exposing CIA and NSA crimes.

This week, the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, which has leaked massive amounts of secret government data showing wrongdoing in recent years, dropped yet another bombshell: the largest-ever publication of confidential CIA documents. In all, the group is publishing close to 9,000 documents, code-named “Vault 7” by WikiLeaks. The latest revelations follow another disclosure last month showing that the controversial intelligence bureaucracy, described by an official as “one hell of a killing machine,” was targeting French politicians and parties for surveillance ahead of France's presidential election.

In the weeks and months ahead, more revelations about the agency are certain to emerge. The New American magazine’s C. Mitchell Shaw has highlighted some of what is known so far. “With the WikiLeaks disclosures Tuesday about the hacking capabilities of the CIA, it is now known that the agency can hack at least on par with the NSA and with even less accountability,” he wrote. “One element of that is the ability to remotely access devices — such as computers, mobile devices, and televisions — to watch and listen to targets. Of course, since the CIA has lost control over its hacking tools, others now have that same ability.”

The implications of all that should be extremely troubling to anyone, whether they believe they have something to hide or not. “Once the hackers have control of those devices, they can remotely activate the cameras and microphones, turning the devices into surveillance apparatus owned and operated by the subjects (read: victims) of the surveillance — all without any indication to the owners of the devices that they were being watched and listened to,” Shaw continued. “No light. No indicators. Pure, surreptitious surveillance.”

Understandably, a great deal has been said about the CIA’s tools for turning smart phones and other devices into portable surveillance devices. From Smart TV's watching citizens 1984-style, to laptops or phones having their microphones activated to spy on users, to hacking into household appliances brought online as part of the “Internet of Things” phenomenon, privacy has seemingly never been as threatened as it is today.

In a newly leaked document plotting future direction and organization of the CIA’s Embedded Development Branch, or EDB, various unnamed “intelligence” bureaucrats outline “potential options for reorganization.” Also outlined in the document are “potential mission areas for EDB,” the leaked document shows. Among those possible “mission areas” are “Vehicle Systems (e.g. VSEP)” and “QNX,” a car operating system relied upon by most major car manufacturers including Audi, Ford, and many more.  

And yet, beyond just spying on drivers and passengers, WikiLeaks speculated on how the CIA's capabilities and schemes could be used offensively, too — potentially even to murder people. “As of October 2014 the CIA was also looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks,” WikiLeaks explained in its press release announcing the massive Vault 7 leaks. “The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations.”

Lest the prospect be considered far-fetched, the CIA and other rogue U.S. bureaucracies today openly brag about their mass-murdering assassination programs. Thousands of people, including American citizens and even U.S.-born children, have been blown to bits by the U.S. government's murderous programs, all without ever being charged with a crime, much less convicted in a court of law. “We kill people based on metadata,” boasted former CIA and NSA boss Michael Hayden in 2014, seemingly confessing to mass murder.    

But the CIA's involvement in assassination and mass murder is hardly a new phenomenon. Neither is the agency's development of cutting-edge technology with which to murder victims without leaving evidence. In 1975, for example, it emerged in Senate testimony as part of an investigation into the lawless scheming of the CIA that the agency had developed a gun that shoots an “ice dart.” The frozen projectile would enter the body and cause a heart attack upon melting, leaving virtually no evidence of the crime. Today, the CIA routinely drops bombs on people all over the world using unnamed drones.  

As for the speculation that the CIA might use its car-hacking schemes to murder people, that, too, has been around for years. In 2013, investigative journalist Michael Hastings, who was probing abuses by the CIA and NSA and had recently informed others that he was being investigated by federal authorities, died in a highly suspicious car crash in Los Angeles, California. Authorities officially ruled the death an “accident,” but serious questions began surfacing right away — even in the establishment media and among prominent officials.

Despite his own establishment credentials and his pro-Democrat reporting, Hastings had become increasingly alarmed and agitated by what he was learning about the administration's illegal spying on Americans. When he learned that Obama had been illegally spying on journalists, too, he hit the roof. “The Obama administration has clearly declared war on the press. It has declared war on investigative journalists — our sources,” he said during a TV interview shortly before he died. He also called on journalists to declare war on the government.

Less than 24 hours before he died, Hastings warned his friends, family, and employers that “feds” were swarming his friends and associates and that anyone contacted by federal bureaucrats should request legal counsel. The subject line of his e-mail read: “FBI investigation re: NSA.” Perhaps most alarming of all, the e-mail concluded with a major revelation: “Also: I'm onto a big story, and need to go off the radar for a bit.”

And then, he died. His friends said he normally drove “like a grandma.” And yet, officially, according to the investigation, Hastings ran through a red light while supposedly driving more than 100 miles per hour in a crowded residential neighborhood before plowing into a tree and blowing up his car. The engine of his new Mercedes was found more than 150 feet away from the wreck. Officials were ordered not to comment on the case.   

Speculation about the car being hacked by rogue U.S. intelligence agencies began almost immediately. And even prominent officials from the government sector speculated that Hastings may have, in fact, been murdered. Former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke, for example, declared shortly after the crash that it was “consistent with a car cyber-attack.” He also noted that intelligence agencies of major governments, including the U.S. government, almost certainly know how to do it.   

“What has been revealed as a result of some research at universities is that it's relatively easy to hack your way into the control system of a car, and to do such things as cause acceleration when the driver doesn't want acceleration, to throw on the brakes when the driver doesn't want the brakes on, to launch an air bag,” Clarke explained. “You can do some really highly destructive things now, through hacking a car, and it's not that hard.... So if there were a cyber-attack on the car — and I'm not saying there was — I think whoever did it would probably get away with it.”

Since Hastings' death, numerous cars have been hacked. In 2015, security researchers hacked into a Jeep Cherokee and were able to turn the steering wheel and even disable the brakes. Before that, university researchers published papers showing it was possible. And last year, German researchers did the same thing, hijacking 24 cars. In other words, there is no question that it is technically feasible. And there is no question that the CIA has and does murder people with impunity without the victims even being charged with a crime.  

Of course, various establishment-controlled propaganda organs, especially those linked to the CIA, dismissed and downplayed the latest concerns about CIA car hacking. Leading the pack was none other than the increasingly discredited Washington Post. While the far-left anti-Trump outlet still refuses to offer readers any disclosure, it has long been known that the Post's controversial owner, Amazon boss and Bilderberg attendee Jeff Bezos, has massive contracts with the CIA worth far more than the price he paid for the failing newspaper.

Other establishment propaganda organs took their cue from the CIA-linked Post and downplayed the concerns, too. “The more likely scenario: Vehicle infotainment systems could be tapped for the purposes of eavesdropping, much as the documents describe the ability to listen to conversations via the TV in the living room,” wrote Autoblog.com, published by Huffington Post owner AOL. How the establishment's propagandists came to such a conclusion — especially when CIA officials brag about the agency being “one hell of a killing machine” — was not immediately clear. 

With the “intelligence” agencies increasingly out of control, and growing rumors that rogue “Deep State” bureaucrats within them are working to sabotage President Trump, it is time for Congress and the executive branch to thoroughly investigate what is going on. It is also time to take another look at the death of Hastings and any other suspicious deaths. If anything has become clear amid the latest revelations, it is that the CIA and other rogue bureaucracies are capable of virtually anything, and they seem to recognize no legal, moral, or ethical constraints on their lawless activities.  

Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, education, politics, and more.