Rhodes, a former US Army paratrooper and Yale-educated lawyer, had been charged for leading a contingent of his Oath Keepers members to Washington.

Though Rhodes did not enter the Capitol, he directed his members from outside, and was sentenced in 2023 to 18 years in prison.

Tarrio was found guilty of seditious conspiracy – a rarely used charge of planning to overthrow the government – over the riot. He was not in Washington DC during the riots but directed others involved.

He received a sentence of 22 years, one of the longest given.

Amid the pardons and commutations, Trump also signed an order directing the Department of Justice to drop all pending cases against suspects accused in the riot.

A leading advocate for those defendants – Edward R Martin – was also made the acting US Attorney for Washington DC, showing the depth of Trump’s desire to end the years-long prosecutions. The Washington office was in charge of trying the cases connected to 6 January.

Democrats have condemned the release of more than 1,000 people as an attempt to rewrite history and sanitise the violence of the riot which led to multiple deaths.

Trump has described the day as “peaceful” and the jailed or imprisoned rioters as “hostages”.