Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who sits on the powerful Judiciary Committee and has backed his nomination, defended Patel from claims he would weaponize the agency against the president’s foes.

Trump's nominee for FBI director will face probing questions from U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats about his credentials and history of making false claims about the agency he's been tapped to lead.

Patel is a controversial nominee, having long raged against the so-called Deep State and prioritized his loyalty to Trump.