Mike Pompeo, the new CIA director under President Donald Trump, apparently only learned about a draft executive action paving the way for the CIA to reintroduce waterboarding and “black site” prisons through news reports on Wednesday.
Yahoo News, citing an unnamed source, reported that Pompeo was “blindsided” by the draft memo, which was first reported by the New York Times, and that he was never consulted about the executive order. Politico reported that both Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis were unaware of the draft order until the Times published its piece.
Both Pompeo and Mattis have publicly opposed reinstating torture techniques like waterboarding. Pompeo said he would not reinstate using torture when asked about it during his confirmation hearing, as Yahoo News noted. Mattis, for his part, has told Trump that he does not believe waterboarding is effective.
Trump still supports bringing back torture methods, however. He claimed in an interview with ABC News that aired Wednesday that intelligence officials told him that waterboarding works. But Trump added that he will defer to Pompeo and Mattis on whether to bring back torture methods.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Wednesday denied that the leaked draft executive order reported on by the New York Times and others came from the White House.
“I have no idea where it came from,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
