A tweet from Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton about "dark forces" in the Bevin administration has sparked a Republican civil war in Kentucky over the firing of Hampton's aide.

But how did it go down — and why?

Hampton's deputy chief of staff, Adrienne Southworth, has told the Courier Journal she had "no earthly clue" why she was fired in late May. At the time, she was digging into the circumstances behind the firing of Steve Knipper, who was her supervisor and Hampton's chief of staff.

Roughly two weeks after Hampton made Southworth's dismissal public on Twitter, Gov. Matt Bevin's chief of staff, Blake Brickman, took responsibility for the termination.

In a statement released Saturday, Brickman said Southworth repeatedly demonstrated poor judgment.

Here's what you need to know:

May 30: Southworth's services 'no longer needed'

Southworth received a letter May 30 that said her services were "no longer needed."

The letter, obtained by the Courier Journal through an open records request, was signed by Troy Robinson, an official of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, the appointing authority of Southworth's job.

More:Lt. Gov. Hampton tries to direct Bevin administration to reinstate fired staffer

The letter gives no reason for Southworth's termination and says, "This action is being taken without cause," as is normal when a politically appointed employee is dismissed.

Southworth said neither Hampton nor anyone in the Bevin administration raised any concerns about her job performance since she joined the staff in December 2015.

Bevin spokeswoman Elizabeth Kuhn said at the time the governor's office doesn't comment on personnel matters.

May 31: 'Pray for me as I battle dark forces'

Southworth's firing became public after Lt. Gov. Hampton tweeted the morning of May 31 that her deputy chief of staff, Southworth, had been dismissed against her wishes by "person(s) unknown."

Hampton, a tea party favorite who was left off Bevin's reelection ticket in favor of state Sen. Ralph Alvarado, called for "prayer warriors" as she battled "dark forces" in the Bevin administration.

Read this:Kentucky Lt. Gov. Hampton asks for prayers against 'dark forces' in Bevin administration

Southworth was the second person on Hampton's staff fired by the Bevin administration in five months, with Knipper being the first in late January. Hampton now has one staffer.

That same day, Hampton wrote a letter to Robinson instructing him to reverse Southworth's dismissal, but Southworth has said she does not know if this has occurred.

June 4: Southworth speaks out

In her first interview about her firing, Southworth told the Courier Journal in early June that she didn't know why she was terminated.

"I’m not exactly sure whether we need to call Ghostbusters or we’re looking for the Phantom of the Opera or what’s going on, but we need to get answers," Southworth said.

Bevin's chief of staff: I fired Jenean Hampton's aide. Here's why

June 6: Bevin lashes out at the media

When Bevin was grilled in a radio interview on 84 WHAS about Hampton's "dark forces" tweet, he said the media was giving the story attention to help Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andy Beshear, the state attorney general, in the 2019 race.

"What I think is weird is that people are talking about something that happens every single day in Frankfort and in America as if it's never happened before," Bevin said.

"No, the media's paying attention to it because your lieutenant governor said 'dark forces' were at work," 84 WHAS radio host LeLand Conway said. "That's why we're interested, it's about transparency."

Who is Steve Knipper and why was he fired?

Hampton's chief of staff and Southworth's boss, Steve Knipper, was fired because he had filed to run for secretary of state.

He was dismissed based on a Bevin administration policy that states that any governor-appointed non-merit employee who runs for partisan office must resign from their job. However, Knipper was told by the Finance and Administration Cabinet he was “terminated without cause."

Southworth said she began digging into the circumstances of Knipper's termination in February.

"I needed answers to what was going on," she said. "When things don’t smell right, you just kind of start looking into them. … My supervisor was fired. I knew that that wasn’t right and needed to figure out why."

Southworth requested documents that granted the governor's hiring and firing authorities to another state official, as well as records to show that authority was granted to a finance official.

Neither Hampton nor Knipper asked her to do this, Southworth said.

May 2: Attorney general rules Bevin's office violated Open Records Act

Southworth said her record requests were being met with delays and limits on inspection. She turned to Attorney General Andy Beshear, Bevin's opponent in the governor's race, to complain — 10 days after filing the request. She was allowed to take pictures of the documents.

In a May 2 opinion, Beshear's office ruled Bevin's administration had violated the Open Records Act. In a nine-page ruling, the attorney general's office stated the Finance Cabinet failed to give Southworth a timely response or explain the delay. It also noted the Bevin administration required Southworth to inspect the records on-site within a three-hour window.

June 15: Bevin's chief of staff says he fired Southworth

Sixteen days after Southworth was fired, the governor's chief of staff, Blake Brickman, said he authorized her termination.

In a statement released Saturday, Brickman said she was fired for repeatedly demonstrating poor judgment.

“The Governor’s Office typically does not comment on personnel matters," Brickman said in the statement. "However, in light of repeated misleading insinuations and blatant lies about Adrienne Southworth’s termination, it is important to set the record straight."

Southworth was let go for a number of reasons, Brickman said, "not the least of which were repeatedly advocating that the governor commute the sentence of an individual who is serving a twenty-five year sentence for raping his own step-daughter."

Brickman said Southworth repeatedly made unauthorized efforts to lobby state's legislators to pass legislation that "provides more leniency for convicted sex offenders who violate their parole," and claimed Southworth misused state property.

Southworth's response: 'We were expecting character assassination'

Late Saturday, Southworth denied she advocated for leniency for sex offenders and assumed Brickman was referring to her efforts related to a justice reform bill that was a priority of the administration's Justice Cabinet.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported Sunday that Southworth did lobby for House Bill 169, which would allow the state Parole Board to place certain inmates at their final parole revocation hearing on treatment for up to nine months without revoking parole. Bevin signed that bill into law after it passed the legislature nearly unanimously.

"We were expecting character assassination ..." Southworth told the Courier Journal. "As the bureaucrats descend into irrelevance, they try to claim my scalp for their political rescue."

Southworth said she didn't know what Brickman was getting at as for her misuse of state property.

Earlier that day, Southworth told conservative activists at an event in Elizabethtown that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was behind Hampton's boot from the 2019 gubernatorial ticket — deepening the growing divide in the Bevin administration.

Bevin announced in January that state Sen. Ralph Alvarado would be his running mate, much to the chagrin of tea party Hampton supporters.

McConnell is "going to put Ralph on stage to get Ralph national exposure and you all know who he is: the person who wants the Republican Party to do whatever he wants them to do," Southworth said.

Southworth said she based this on conversations she'd had with the lieutenant governor.

McConnell spokeswoman Stephanie Penn said the senator had never discussed replacing Hampton on Bevin's ticket.

McConnell alum: Hampton should resign

CNN contributor and Courier Journal columnist Scott Jennings said on Twitter late Saturday that if Brickman's version of events are true, Hampton should step down. Jennings is a major political player in Kentucky and once served as campaign manager for McConnell.

State rep: Southworth proposed sexual offenders be covered by House bill

State Rep. John Blanton told the Courier Journal on Sunday that Southworth requested a meeting with him to discuss House Bill 189, which deals with parole reform.

"I accepted the meeting and listened to her concerns and her proposal to add a certain class of sexual offenders to be covered under the reforms," Blanton said in the statement. "I disagreed with her position and contacted the Bevin Administration to see if this was part of their policy proposal and was told it was not. The legislation was passed and signed into law without her proposed amendments."

While Southworth confirmed the meeting happened, she denied that she advocated for sex offenders.

"No, I didn't make a proposal at all, on that or anything else," Southworth said.

Hampton: Brickman 'overstepped his boundaries' in firing

Hampton unloaded on Tuesday, saying Brickman had "clearly overstepped his boundaries" in firing Southworth and that she would work to reinstate her staff as she served until the end of her term as lieutentant governor.

Tom Loftus contributed reporting.

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb. Reach Courier Journal intern Laurel Deppen at ldeppen@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @Laurel_Deppen.