CIA director skips Harvard speech because of 'traitor' Chelsea Manning

Mike Pompeo.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

CIA Director Mike Pompeo canceled his appearance Thursday at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government following the appointment of Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow, saying if he showed up it would betray the trust of CIA employees.

Manning was convicted of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks, and served seven years in military prison before former President Barack Obama commuted her sentence, saying he felt justice had been served. Pompeo had been scheduled to discuss global security concerns, including North Korea's nuclear program and Russian meddling in elections, but just minutes before he was set to speak, the school's dean, Douglas Elmendorf, told the audience he was not going to appear.

Pompeo, a Harvard Law graduate, said in a letter he did not make the decision to not show up lightly. Manning is transgender, and was known as Bradley Manning when she was convicted, and Pompeo said his decision had nothing to do with her gender identity but rather how WikiLeaks is a U.S. adversary "akin to a hostile foreign intelligence service." Manning is a "traitor to the United States of America and my loyalty is to the officers of the CIA," he said. "Harvard's actions implicitly tell its students that you too can be a fellow at Harvard and a felon under United States law."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Former acting director of the CIA Mike Morell, a senior fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, resigned on Thursday in protest of Manning's appointment, saying he couldn't be part of an organization that "honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.