EXCLUSIVE — Kash Patel’s two brushes with the law are being brought to the fore as the FBI director nominee prepares for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.

Patel’s own legal problems — a 2001 underage public intoxication arrest in Richmond, Virginia, and a 2020 reckless driving charge that was reduced in Arlington — complicate his case to senators as he seeks to become the country’s top cop amid concerns he will not be independent from President Donald Trump and prosecute the president’s perceived enemies and members of the so-called deep state.