Whistleblowing

Harvard Caves to CIA Pressure, Revokes Chelsea Manning Title


Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government revoked Chelsea Manning’s status as a “visiting fellow” on Friday, despite insisting the title was not intended as an honor. Extending the title “was a mistake, for which I accept responsibility,” the school’s dean, Douglas W. Elmendorf, wrote in a statement.

On Sept. 13, Harvard University extended an invitation to Manning to speak to students in a short lecture series, igniting an unexpected firestorm. Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, leaked thousands of diplomatic cables revealing details about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Although her title is revoked, Manning is still invited to speak to students at Harvard.

Harvard’s invite to Manning sparked a sharp reaction from Michael Morrell, a former CIA deputy director, who resigned from his position as a senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center. “I cannot be a part of an organization….that honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information,” Morell wrote in a statement.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo came to the same conclusion, pulling out of at an event at the university at the last minute. “Ms. Manning stands against everything the brave men and women I serve alongside stand for,” he wrote in a letter to the University, which was distributed to press.