Despite his apparent disdain for the anonymous whistleblower who spurred House Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry, President Trump had largely played by the unwritten rules and refrained from mentioning the name of the person allegedly behind the Ukraine-related complaint. But the president veered off that path briefly this week.
On Thursday, Trump retweeted a post from his re-election campaign that linked to an article containing the alleged whistleblower's name, which led to an array of criticism. Then on Friday night, amid a barrage of posts to his 68 million followers, Trump retweeted a post from a supportive follower that included the alleged name. Trump appeared to have deleted the retweet by Saturday morning.
Legal experts disagree on whether identifying a whistleblower is a crime, but many people have argued that doing so in this instance could put the alleged person in danger. Several people in the White House, including Ivanka Trump, have reportedly cautioned the president against publicly naming the alleged whistleblower.
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