Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, insisted to deeply skeptical Democrats on Thursday that he did not have an “enemies list" and that the bureau under his leadership would not seek retribution against the president's adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes.

Kash Patel strenuously denied backing the QAnon cult and its “baseless” conspiracy theories as he backpedaled on some previous statements in a contentious confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill. Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director faced a flurry of accusations from Democrat senators claiming he had targeted “deep state” political opponents and the “fake mafia media,

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