Story highlights During his confirmation hearings, Pompeo said he believed torture to be illegal

Trump said he would defer to his Cabinet on adopting such policies

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's CIA director, Mike Pompeo, was "surprised" by a report of a draft executive order directing the agency to reexamine the use of interrogation techniques that are legally considered torture, a source with knowledge of the director's thinking told CNN.

The source added that the draft, the contents of which were reported by The New York Times, is in fact an administration document being circulated to various agencies.

But the White House said Wednesday that the circulated paper was not an official administration product.

"It is not a White House document. I have no idea where it came from, but it is not a White House document," White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.

The publication of the draft, along with Trump's interview with ABC in which he said that "torture works," has raised concerns that his administration might seek to revive certain interrogation techniques like waterboarding. Trump did add that he would defer to his Cabinet as to whether he would adopt such policies.

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