President Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, Kash Patel, downplayed his past promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories and his pledges to pursue retribution against Trump’s opponents on Thursday at his combative Senate confirmation hearing.

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.