Kash Patel positioned himself as a steadfast Donald Trump loyalist well before the president picked him to run the FBI.

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

Kash Patel will sit down in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to explain why he should be confirmed to lead an agency he seems to despise. Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation has said he would shut down the agency’s headquarters “on Day 1” and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state.”