At another recent sentencing Judge Amit Mehta jailed rioter John Lolos for 30 days, but told him: “In a sense, Mr. Lolos, I think you are a pawn. Those who orchestrated Jan 6 have in no meaningful sense been held accountable. Regrettably, people like Mr Lolos were told lies.”

Daniel Rodriguez, 38, from Panorama City, California, who has been accused of firing a Taser at a police officer, wept and called himself a “f—ing piece of s—” in an interview released by the FBI.

Rodriguez told agents he had fallen for a “big joke” that “we were going to save this country.”

Meanwhile, Adam Johnson, 36, who waved for pictures as he paraded through the Capitol carrying Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern, pleaded guilty to entering a restricted building. Prosecutors dropped more serious charges.

Johnson, from Parrish, Florida, appeared in a virtual hearing before a judge in Washington an said he had got “caught up” in the moment.

The judge excoriated him for “clownish behaviour”.

He is due to be sentenced in February and could face up to six months in prison.