But it reached new heights of absurdity when, after his latest indictment, his newest lawyer offered a defense that was so outlandish, so utterly weird, that even the most exhausted of us were forced to pay attention.

The lawyer, John Lauro, announced that Trump’s defense is quite simple: Trump did not break any law. He was just being “aspirational.”

Huh?

I guess that when Trump, for example, asked the Georgia Secretary of State to find him 11,780 ballots, he was not committing election fraud. He was just being “aspirational” in suggesting that maybe the Secretary of State could engage in election fraud. He was not actually telling him to do it.

Call it the “It doesn’t hurt to ask” defense.

Commentators have noted in the past that Trump has Henry II tendencies. In 1170, when discussing the Archbishop of Canterbury, the English king mused aloud to his buddies, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”

According to Henry’s defenders, Henry was not telling his peeps to actually kill anyone. He was just engaging in some light banter that some people took too literally when they murdered Thomas Becket.

So, when Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastwood and others recruited electors, lied about voter fraud and asked an armed mob to march on the Capitol, were they actually doing anything wrong? Nope. They just were wondering why no one was ridding Trump of this troublesome democracy, this troublesome Constitution, this troublesome experiment for which Americans have fought and died since 1775.

Nor was Trump threatening anyone when he posted the following statement on social media: “If you go after me, I’m coming after you.”

He was just trash talking. Like the peaceful transition of power is just an NBA basketball game.

Upon reading the latest Trump news, I said to myself, hmmm, I wonder what a former state attorney general would think about these weird defenses and not-so-veiled threats. Would a former state attorney general say, “Get real, Mr. Trump?”

Not if she is Kelly Ayotte.

Seven years ago, after a creepy Donald Trump was caught on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women, Ayotte withdrew her support for his first presidential race. She lost her reelection bid to Maggie Hassan, in part due to angry MAGA Republicans.

As an aside, did Ayotte ever thank Hassan for the loss? She should have. That loss resulted in Ayotte’s winning a corporate lottery ticket. Her years serving on a number of corporate boards allowed her to accrue a personal fortune, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from giant defense contractor BAE, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., and others.

One would think that winning the corporate jackpot would have given her both the financial independence and the political courage to condemn Trump again, especially given the seriousness of the crimes Trump stands accused of.

One would be wrong.

Instead, when asked about Trump, Ayotte simply said, “I’ll support our Republican nominee.”

Seriously? A former attorney general and senator who has taken oaths to uphold and support our state and federal constitutions is okay with a candidate who tried to undo an election and undermine our democracy? A candidate whose defense is that it did not hurt to ask.

What makes her position even more grotesque is that Ayotte withdrew her support for Trump back in 2016 because of his bragging about grabbing women and doing whatever you want with them. Less than four months ago, a jury found that Trump had done exactly that, sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, then calling her a liar. One would think that confirmation of Trump’s lack of character would have solidified Ayotte’s low opinion of Trump. Wrong again.

In prior elections, Ayotte liked to describe herself as an “independent voice.” Not anymore. Winning a Republican primary, even if it means cozying up to Trump, means more to her than independence or principle.

Pathetic, isn’t it?