The man picked for a top security role in Donald Trump’s administration is a children’s author who believes that the president-elect has been persecuted and undermined by the “deep state”.

Trump faced intense resistance the first time he nominated a firebrand like Patel to a senior post in the Justice Department.

President-elect Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel to take over as FBI director — effectively firing current FBI Director Christopher Wray, who still has three years left in his 10-year term — has set off a firestorm on Capitol Hill.