The precedent is set so people beware. May have been clever and got rid of some bad ones but the concept is now out there to be repeated.
The precedent was set a long time ago. See: Fiery crash of Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings's car. Not long after Hastings' takedown of General Stanley McChrystal, and as he was telling friends he was working on a big expose, Hastings' car inexplicably revved to high speed on a quiet residential street with no other traffic and he was incinerated. This was 2013.