President Donald J. Trump had just delivered his fiery speech at the Ellipse early on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, setting in motion the attack by his supporters on the Capitol.
Republicans have suggested that the panel did not release the transcript because it contradicts portions of a public account of the incident from a prominent witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as an aide to Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff at the time.
He said the agency determined it could release redacted versions of six interviews, including the driver’s, to Republicans who are investigating the committee’s work while looking for irregularities or signs of bias.
“This firsthand testimony directly contradicts Cassidy Hutchinson’s story and the former J6 select committee’s narrative,” said Representative Barry Loudermilk, the Georgia Republican who has been leading the House G.O.P.
The driver’s transcript is the most detailed firsthand account so far of how Mr. Trump behaved inside his presidential motorcade that day, traveling the short distance from the White House to the Ellipse, and it corroborates several aspects of the testimony of Ms. Hutchinson and other committee witnesses.
After the speech, in which Mr. Trump repeated his baseless claims of election fraud, assailed Mr. Pence and fired up the crowd of his supporters, he got back in the armored S.U.V.
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