Former president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers have suggested their strategy in his election interference case in Washington involves distancing him from the horde of U.S. Capitol rioters, whom he has embraced on the campaign trail. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has signaled it will make the case Trump is responsible for the chaos that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, and point to the Republican ex-president’s continued support of the rioters to help establish his criminal intent. The competing arguments highlight the extent to which the riot serves as an inescapable backdrop in a landmark trial set to begin March 4 in a courthouse just blocks from the Capitol.