Coroner's report says Andrew Breitbart died of heart failure

Conservative blogger and activist Andrew Breitbart's death came as a result of heart failure attributed to coronary artery disease, according to a report from ABC News.  The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office reported that the 43-year-old has a negligible amount of alcohol in his system when he collapsed near his Brentwood home on March 1, but no prescription or illicit drugs were found.

Coroner's office spokesperson Doug Harvey told ABC that no foul play was suspected and that the case was considered closed.

Breitbart is credited with bringing a new style of combative partisan journalism into the mainstream, although his legacy as such has been marred by credibility questions and accusations of racism.  Recently, Tina Brown, editor of Newsweek and "The Daily Beast" called Breitbart's type of radicalized reporting "a bastardization of journalism" and recommended David Carr's New York Times profile of the deceased provocateur as a fitting summation of the man and his work.

Breitbart is survived by his wife, Susie Bean Breitbart, and their four children.

(image by Mark Taylor via Flickr Commons)