Prominent Republicans — including former President Donald Trump — have for months promoted a conspiracy theory that an Arizona man named Ray Epps was a federal informant who helped to instigate the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The claims, made in congressional hearing rooms, on Fox News and at Trump’s political rallies, have largely been based on a video taken just before violence erupted at the Capitol, showing Epps at the barricades outside the building whispering into the ear of a man named Ryan Samsel.

Within moments of the brief exchange, Samsel, a Pennsylvania barber, can be seen moving forward and confronting the police in what amounted to the tipping point of the riot. Despite lacking proof for their claims, many Republicans have surmised that Epps instructed Samsel to antagonize the officers. They have also pushed the notion that because Epps has not been arrested, he must have been working for the government.

But for more than a year, well before the name Ray Epps was widely known in right-wing circles, federal authorities have had information — from both him and Samsel — suggesting that he was not a government agent and did not encourage the younger man to engage with the police that day.

Just two days after the attack, when Epps saw himself on a list of suspects from Jan. 6, he called an FBI tip line and told investigators that he had tried to calm Samsel down when they spoke, according to three people who have heard a recording of the call. Epps went on to say that he explained to Samsel that the police outside the building were merely doing their jobs, the people said.

Then in late January of last year, in an interview with the FBI, Samsel toldinvestigators that a man he did not know came up to him at the barricades and suggested he relax, according to a recording of the interview obtained by The New York Times.“He came up to me and he said, ‘Dude’ — his entire words were, ‘Relax, the cops are doing their job,’ ” Samsel said.

The recordings of Epps, 60, and Samsel were released by the government last week as a discovery disclosure to scores of defense lawyers representing people charged with crimes in connection with the Capitol attack.