CIA Director Mike Pompeo was never informed of a draft executive order publicly disclosed Wednesday that could reinstate waterboarding along with other enhanced interrogation methods at reopened CIA "black site" prisons overseas.
A source told Yahoo News on Thursday that Pompeo was "blindsided" by the document when it was first published in the New York Times.
Neither Pompeo nor Defense Secretary James Mattis were consulted about the draft order or aware of its existence until it was released publicly. Mattis, a retired four-star general who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has cast doubt on the effectiveness of using torture to gather information.
In an interview with ABC News that aired Wednesday, Trump reiterated his belief that torture "absolutely" works while noting that he would rely on advice from Mattis and Pompeo.
"We're not playing on an even field," Trump told ABC's David Muir. "When ISIS is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since medieval times, would I feel strongly about waterboarding? As far as I'm concerned, we have to fight fire with fire."
The three-page draft order would pave the way for the CIA to reopen its controversial black site prisons that were used to detain and interrogate terrorism suspects prior to being closed down by former President Barack Obama. The order would also reinstate a Bush-era interrogation program that included methods like waterboarding.
If Trump signs the document, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay would remain open indefinitely.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday the draft was not a White House document.
"I have no idea where it came from," Spicer told reporters at a briefing.
The document drew condemnation from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, who has worked to curtail "enhanced interrogation techniques."