Harvard withdraws invitation to Chelsea Manning … – POLITICO

The IOP announced Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow on Wednesday, but the invitation prompted backlash from top national security officials. | AP Photo

CIA Director Mike Pompeo withdraws from speaking slot and former acting CIA Director Michael Morrel quits Harvard post over hiring.

By NOLAN D. MCCASKILL

09/14/2017 05:36 PM EDT

Updated 09/15/2017 06:54 AM EDT

The Harvard University Institute of Politics invitation for Chelsea Manning to serve as a visiting fellow for the 2017-18 academic year was a mistake and is being withdrawn, the dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government said Friday.

I now think that designating Chelsea Manning as a Visiting Fellow was a mistake, for which I accept responsibility, Douglas Elmendorf said in a statement Friday. Therefore, we are withdrawing the invitation to her to serve as a Visiting Fellowand the perceived honor that it implies to some peoplewhile maintaining the invitation for her to spend a day at the Kennedy School and speak in the Forum.

Story Continued Below

The IOP announced Manning as a visiting fellow on Wednesday alongside former Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who would join former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and MSNBC Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

But the invitation to Manning, a transgender woman who was arrested in 2010 for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks, prompted backlash from top national security officials. Former acting CIA Director Michael Morell resigned his post Thursday as a senior fellow at Harvards Belfer Center in protest to the invitation to Manning, and CIA Director Mike Pompeo canceled a scheduled speaking appearance at the Kennedy School later Thursday.

In a letter Thursday to Elmendorf, Morell wrote that he cannot be part of an organization that honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information, Ms. Chelsea Manning, by inviting her to be a Visiting Fellow at the Kennedy Schools Institute of Politics.

In his own letter Thursday to Belfer Centers director of intelligence and defense projects, Pompeo said his conscience and duty to the men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency will not permit me to betray their trust by appearing to support Harvards decision to extend an invitation to an American traitor to become a visiting fellow.

Ms. Manning stands against everything the brave men and women I serve alongside stand for, Pompeo wrote.

Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington.

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Elmendorf distanced the university from Manning and its cast of visiting fellows overall, noting that while some speakers are controversial, Harvard doesnt endorse or legitimize their words.

He explained that Manning would have been one of 10 visiting fellows this fall and painted the title as a designation for visitors who spend more than a few hours at the School, not as conveying a special honor.

At any point in time, the Kennedy School has hundreds of fellows playing many different roles at the School, Elmendorf said. We invited Chelsea Manning to spend a day at the Kennedy School. Specifically, we invited her to meet with students and others who are interested in talking with her, and then to give remarks in the Forum where the audience would have ample opportunityas with all of our speakersto ask hard questions and challenge what she has said and done. On that basis, we also named Chelsea Manning a Visiting Fellow. We did not intend to honor her in any way or to endorse any of her words or deeds, as we do not honor or endorse any Fellow.

Elmendorf owned up to his mistake and extended an apology to Manning.

I apologize to her and to the many concerned people from whom I have heard today for not recognizing upfront the full implications of our original invitation, he said. This decision now is not intended as a compromise between competing interest groups but as the correct way for the Kennedy School to emphasize its longstanding approach to visiting speakers while recognizing that the title of Visiting Fellow implies a certain recognition.

Former President Barack Obama commuted Mannings 35-year sentence during his last week in office. But Morell and Pompeo noted in their letters that she was found guilty of 17 serious crimes, endangering soldiers and America's national security, but stressed that their positions had nothing to do with Manning being a transgender woman.

It has everything to do with her identity as a traitor to the United States of America and my loyalty to the officers of the CIA, Pompeo said of his decision to cancel his speaking appearance.

Manning tweeted that she was honored to be 1st disinvited trans woman visiting @harvard fellow, adding that they chill marginalized voices under @cia pressure.She lamented that @harvard says @seanspicer & @Clewandowski_ bring something to the table and adding something to the conversation and not me.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox.

See the original post here:
Harvard withdraws invitation to Chelsea Manning ... - POLITICO