The F.B.I. nominee has not only cast his political lot with the president, he has also used the connection to the Trump brand, Truth Social and other Trump-linked entities as a significant source of income over the past several years.

Later, speaking from the Senate floor, Durbin expressed “grave concerns” about Patel’s fitness to lead the F.B.I., calling him a “staunch political loyalist who has repeatedly peddled false conspiracy theories and threatened to retaliate against those who have slighted him personally and politically.