Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, is to encounter deeply skeptical questioning from Democratic senators about his loyalty to the president and stated desire to overhaul the bureau as he faces a high-stakes hearing that will help determine his path toward confirmation.

Patel, like Trump, has taken a different view, saying the rioters have been mistreated by the criminal justice system. A former federal public defender and prosecutor, he has called them “political prisoners” and offered on at least one occasion to represent them for free.