Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels part ways
Michael Avenatti announced on Tuesday that he is no longer representing Stormy Daniels, the porn star who says she had a sexual encounter with President Trump in 2006.
Avenatti did not provide any details, beyond saying that after many long discussions, he notified Daniels in February that he would be terminating their agreement. He began representing her in February 2018, and was a regular on the cable news circuit defending his client and criticizing Trump.
Daniels announced on social media that she has hired a new attorney, Clark Brewster, and he will "review all legal matters," The Associated Press reports.
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Just before the 2016 presidential election, Daniels received $130,000 in exchange for her silence on the alleged affair, as part of a deal set up by Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. She sued to get out of the nondisclosure agreement, and when a federal judge tossed her case out last week, he found that the agreement was invalid.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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