Powerful MAGA voices are hailing him as their No. 1 avenger to hunt down and decapitate the modern-day Hydra known as the “deep state,” a central villain of the conspiracy theory that gained momentum during Trump’s first term in office.

Former national security adviser John Bolton compared Kash Patel, President-elect Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, to one of the former Soviet Union’s most feared secret police chiefs, Lavrentiy Beria.