It's over!!

Michael Avenatti and Stormy Daniels - the porn actress who alleged she had an affair with President Donald Trump - have severed ties.

In the last year, the duo rose to become household names in their fight against Trump, dominating cable news shows for months and taunting the president in interviews.

For posterity, let's look back at Avenatti and Daniels track-record: (via The Hill)

Avenatti represented Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, in lawsuits that she filed against President Trump and Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to Trump. Daniels sued Trump and Cohen to void a nondisclosure agreement stemming from an alleged 2006 affair between Daniels and the president. Daniels was paid ahead of the 2016 election to keep quiet about the affair. A judge threw out the lawsuit this month, ruling that it was irrelevant because she had not been held to the terms of the agreement. Daniels also filed a defamation suit against both men. That lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge in October.

But the writing was on the wall that clouds were forming over Stormy and Michael's 'relationship':

In November, Daniels told the Daily Beast that Avenatti had filed a defamation case against Trump "against my wishes" and alleged that he refused to give her an accounting of the funds collected by her supporters, would not tell her how the money was spent or how much was left in the crowdsourced legal defense fund.

So Avenatti was 0 for 3 in his representation of Daniels, which is maybe not a total surprise, as AP reports, before Avenatti began representing Daniels in February 2018, he was virtually unknown outside of the California legal community. But in months, he had become known as a no-holds-barred lawyer with a media style parallel to Trump's. Avenatti had toyed with a 2020 presidential run, but ultimately ruled that out. He's also been involved in some of America's biggest cases in the last year, including representing dozens of parents whose children were separated from them at the U.S. border as a result of the Trump administration's immigration policies. More recently, he's been representing women who said they were sexually abused by R&B star R. Kelly.

Daniels has not done quite so well, turning her hand to stand-up most recently...

The question is who fired whom? The answer is actually simple:

Stormy Daniels tweeted at 1112am that "I have retained Clark Brewster as my personal lawyer and have asked him and his firm to review all legal matters involving me."

I have retained Clark Brewster as my personal lawyer and have asked him and his firm to review all legal matters involving me. Upon completion of Mr. Brewster's review and further consultation with me, I anticipate Mr. Brewster will serve as my primary counsel on all legal issues — Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) March 12, 2019

And Michael Avenatti quickly responded at 1123am claiming that "on February 19, we informed Stormy Daniels in writing that we were terminating our legal representation of her for various reasons that we cannot disclose publicly due to attorney-client privilege... This was not a decision we made lightly and it came only after lengthy discussion, thought and deliberation, as well as consultation with other professionals," he added. "We wish Stormy all the best."

Please see below statement relating to our representation of Stormy Daniels. pic.twitter.com/RgXd4DXf4X — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 12, 2019

So why did Avenatti not - in all his any-publicity-is-great-publicity-and-I-may-still-run-for-President blufftardism - relay his severing ties with Daniels in February?

Bloomberg's White House correspondent Jennifer Jacobs has the answer - straight from the horse's mouth (as it were): "To an audience of women at The Wing in DC, she says her ex lawyer, Michael Avenatti, pulled the old “you can’t fire me, I quit” trick."

“Yes,” Stormy Daniels says when asked if she and her new attorney are planning new legal action.



To an audience of women at The Wing in DC, she says her ex lawyer, Michael Avenatti, pulled the old “you can’t fire me, I quit” trick. pic.twitter.com/5TplYzsC0K — Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) March 13, 2019

And just like that, 1000s of media types around the world felt a great disturbance in the farce, cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.