Widely read conservative Internet publisher Andrew Breitbart, whose flare for battle with politicians and the mainstream media earned him a reputation as one of the nation's most influential commentators, died Thursday.

The websites he founded ran a statement Thursday morning announcing that Breitbart, 43, died "unexpectedly from natural causes" in Los Angeles shortly after midnight. His attorney and editor-in-chief of those sites confirmed his death to Fox News.

"We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior," the statement said. "Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love."

Full Coverage: Andrew Breitbart
Breitbart was a prolific commentator who founded several websites devoted to covering politics, entertainment and everything in-between. Earlier in his career, he worked for the Drudge Report before breaking off to start his own outlets -- including Big Government, Big Hollywood and Breitbart.tv.

The statement on his sites quoted the concluding passage from his book, Righteous Indignation.

"I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and -- famously -- I enjoy making enemies. Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I've lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I've gained hundreds, thousands -- who knows? -- of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night," Breitbart wrote.

The statement ended: "Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us."

Breitbart was walking near his house in the Brentwood neighborhood shortly after midnight Thursday when he collapsed, his father-in-law Orson Bean said.

Someone saw him fall and called paramedics, who tried to revive him. They rushed him to the emergency room at UCLA Medical Center, Bean said. Breitbart had suffered heart problems a year earlier, but Bean said he could not pinpoint what happened.

"I don't know what to say. It's devastating," Bean told The Associated Press.

Those who knew and worked with him described Breitbart almost uniformly as "fearless," sharply intelligent, witty and devoted to his work.

"He was the modern conservative iteration of a 1960's radical," conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg told Fox News, minutes after Breitbart's death was reported.

"When I say he was the most fearless guy I ever knew, it really is true. I mean, he truly loved the fight," he said.

Breitbart considered his charge to expose corruption, hypocrisy and media bias, and leveraged his network of websites to reach for that goal.

He was on the forefront of reporting several controversies, notably the salacious tweets former Rep. Anthony Weiner had sent to young women before his resignation.

Breitbart became embroiled in a controversy of his own, though, for his reporting on a web video of Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod. The edited video appeared to show Sherrod making a racist comment, but the full tape later put the remark in context and made clear that Sherrod was actually talking about bridging racial differences. Sherrod was fired after the edited video surfaced, and later filed suit against Breitbart.

Breitbart, though, went on to report on one of the biggest congressional scandals of 2011 -- the tweets sent by Weiner to young women he met online. The former New York congressman, who is married, adamantly denied the reports at first, before admitting to them in a tearful press conference and resigning.

One of Breitbart's most memorable moments came when he commandeered the podium before Weiner's final New York conference, holding court with reporters and demanding an apology from Weiner -- while Weiner waited to attend his own press conference.

Goldberg recalled how one of Breitbart's favorite pastimes was to retweet the nasty things other people said about him. "He considered it a badge of honor," Goldberg said.

Breitbart's final tweet, posted shortly before he was reported to have died, typified the combative and blunt tone he took with his online debaters. "I called you a putz cause I thought you were being intentionally disingenuous. If not I apologize," he wrote to the individual he had been arguing with.

News of Breitbart's death reverberated on Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail. Rick Santorum said he was "crestfallen."

"What a powerful force," Santorum said. "What a huge loss, in my opinion, for our country and certainly for the conservative movement."

Breitbart is survived by his wife Susannah Bean Breitbart, 41, and four children.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/01/andrew-breitbart-dies-natural-causes-website-reports/#ixzz1ntuqC8D2

Interesting news this morning. Andrew Breitbart was set to release damaging video of Obama with Weather Underground terrorists on 3/1. He died at 12:19 AM on 3/1. The conspiracy theorists are already ramping up this one.

the guy producing the video said it is coming out in a week to ten days..

I tend to think he was murdered. But, we all know what a conspiracy nut I am.

Fixed that for you.

I really hope that you are wrong.

I really hope I am wrong, too. It's happened before. Not very often though.

Ted L Gunderson Ex FBI Whistleblower Poisoned\

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu77VlA41Sk

Ted Gunderson - The Great Conspiracy Exposed 1/7 PL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5r3HELQBXI

watch all 7 parts

Murdered? Maybe. Do you think that's why Rush is out there apologizing? Could he be next?

I really don't know who this Breitbert guy was, but get the feeling that he was a right wing pundit giving his opinion as though they were facts to any doober dumb butt that would listen.

maybe read some of his Articles first!

I have my own opinions, don't need anyone elses

He is the one that helped uncover the ACORN scandal and Anthony Weiner. He is also for vetting ALL of the Presidential candidates Republican and Deomcrat. He was a really good guy.

He also pissed Republicans off because he supported groups like the Log Cabin Republicans and Homocons.

He had a heart attack..........

Besides Bill Clinton is out of office. He is the last President we had that used murder to make problems go away and to prevent people from exposing him or testifying against him (Vincent Foster).

thats amazing,, and I never believed in psychics before,,,


brava


may he rest in peace, however much of an opportunist deceiver he may have been,,,

GOProud.

You are right, there is norhing unusual about a 43 year old man dying of a heart attack.

GOProud?

Opportunist because he reported what was really going on uncensored? Opportunist? Really? He didn't go on every media outlet and show the revealing pictures of Wiener that he recieved. If he were an opportunist he would have sold them to EVERY media outlet and put them all over the internet and EVEN took legsl action against someone who illegally took a pucture of one of the pictures in his posession because he didn't want to expose Weiner like that.