Though President Donald Trump has long railed against the unknown whistleblower, he made a marked rhetorical shift Monday when he started characterizing attempts to unmask the person as an actively ongoing process.

“We’re trying to find out about a whistleblower,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump says he’s “trying to find out” about the whistleblower pic.twitter.com/ZvglgcBRk3 — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 30, 2019

The whistleblower’s lead attorney, Andrew Bakaj, sent a letter to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire Saturday underscoring the danger his client would be in, should he be identified. One portion of the letter directly cited Trump’s words, when he alluded to violent treatment of those who committed “treason.”

Bakaj tweeted Monday as Trump was speaking.