In an age of vertiginous news cycles, of nonexistent standards, of social-media trash-talkers and braggarts, it’s no wonder that cable news has belched forth an attorney whose main qualification is making charges that get him more attention.

Avenatti hit pay dirt initially with Stormy Daniels, the porn star who allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump and got paid for her silence. The payment was handled by Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, and provided endless fodder for cable segments, as Cohen came under federal investigation and eventually pled guilty to crimes, including involving the payment.

This was a real nice ride, but how was a cable-addicted attorney who enjoyed being knee-deep in a sleazy story transfixing the media to keep the hits coming? Well, he could run for president, which he is considering, but the Iowa caucuses aren’t for another 16 months. He jumped into the border crisis, but the news interest in that faded quickly.