Eric Trump touched off a heated Twitter conversation about the US media on Friday, after he outed a Washington Post reporter who’d apparently been email-blasting Trump Organization employees, looking for whistleblowers.

The kerfuffle began when the president’s son somehow got a copy of an email reporter David Fahrenthold sent to a Trump employee, indicating how to reach him on encrypted apps and leak internal documents safely.

“If you ever want to get in touch with me, I’d be glad to talks ‘on background’, meaning I’d never use your name in any story, or tell anyone else that we spoke,” Fahrenthold wrote in the letter, according to the image Eric Trump published.

“All my contact information is below, including details for how to reach me on encrypted apps,” Fahrenthold added.

Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, sarcastically tweeted, “These are the tactics used by the @WashingtonPost. @JeffBezos – you should be very proud.”

But reporters and media writers quickly came to Fahrenthold’s defense.

“Fabulous template for ethical source-building. Thanks for sharing, Eric,” The Washington Post’s media critic, Erik Wemple tweeted.

“Really kind gesture by Eric Trump to publicly recognize @Fahrenthold’s courtesy and professionalism,” USA Today’s Steve Reilly added.