The nomination for President Trump’s director of the FBI, Kash Patel, seems to be on its way to the Senate floor after receiving a warm welcome from Republican lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee on Thursday. The vitriol directed at Mr. Patel came instead from Senate Democrats, who questioned his previous support for January 6 rioters and his relationship with some far-right fringe figures. 

Mr. Patel was chosen by the president to head the FBI after working for years in Mr. Trump’s national security apparatus, first as a staff member on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee in 2017 where he ran defense for the then-45th president during the Russia investigation, and later as the deputy director of national intelligence and as chief of staff at the Pentagon. 

On Thursday, Mr. Patel made his case that he would be a nonpartisan law enforcement officer, not the conspiratorial crusader that many have made him out to be for spending years embracing some on the fringes of American politics. 

“Having been the victim of government overreach … I know what it feels like to have the full weight of the United States government barreling down on you,” Mr. Patel said at his confirmation hearing. “I will ensure, if confirmed, that no American is subjected to that kind of torment, to that kind of cost — financially and personally — and most importantly, I will make sure that no American is subjected to death threats like I was.”

He disclosed that he had been personally attacked after he testified before the January 6 committee, and was targeted with racist threats. “I was subjected to a direct and significant threat on my life,” Mr. Patel said. “I had to move. In that threat, I was called a detestable sand ni—r.”

Mr. Patel was criticized for drawing up what Democrats have called an “enemies list” in his recent book. In it, the nominee listed former attorneys general, FBI directors, and intelligence officials as being part of a so-called “Deep State” who ought not to be trusted. Some Democrats were concerned that this wasn’t just a warning from Mr. Patel, but more of a to-do list if he is confirmed as FBI director. 

Mr. Patel insisted that all FBI agents and other individuals who may have participated in past investigations into the president will be protected so long as they did not break the law. “Every FBI employee will be held to the same standard,” Mr. Patel told Senator Blumenthal during questioning. “All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.”

Democrats honed in on Mr. Patel’s recent associations with some figures on the far-right, including one podcast host who has said Jews are trying to destroy America and that they controlled every aspect of American society. 

“Are you familiar with a Stew Peters? Does that name ring a bell?” Senator Durbin asked Mr. Patel. The nominee said he did not recall that name before Mr. Durbin pointed out that Mr. Patel had been on Mr. Peters’s podcast at least eight times in recent years. Mr. Durbin also pointed to Mr. Patel’s close relationship with conservative activist Laura Loomer, who in the past has claimed that many famous shootings were staged and that there were “20,000” Haitians in Ohio eating people’s pets. 

Mr. Patel was also pressed by Democrats about his defense of the January 6 rioters, who he referred to as “political prisoners.” When he was a private citizen, Mr. Patel went so far as to produce a rendition of the national anthem sung by the defendants — a group dubbed “the J6 Choir.”

“You promoted their beautiful music — these people who assaulted law enforcement,” Senator Schiff said. “You’re being considered for director of the FBI, and here you did no diligence to find out whether people you associated with … were convicted of attacking police officers.”

The only Republican to raise concerns about January 6 and the president’s blanket pardon of nearly all of those involved was Senator Tillis, who is likely to be the Democrats’ top target in the 2026 midterms. Mr. Tillis is already on board with Mr. Patel’s nomination, though took the time to air his grievances anyway. 

“I actually thought that the pardons of people who did harm to police officers sucked,” Mr. Tillis said. “The people who harmed them are thugs.”