Chelsea Manning is blasting the decision by Harvard to withdraw its invitation for her to become a visiting fellow – accusing the school of giving into pressure from the Central Intelligence Agency.
Her comments, which came in the form of tweets, follow an announcement by Douglas Elmendorf, dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government rescinding the invitation to Manning.
Manning is a former military intelligence analyst who went to prison for leaking classified government secrets, The Washington Post noted. She is transgender.
"I now think that designating Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow was a mistake, for which I accept responsibility,” Elmendorf said in statement shortly after midnight Friday.
The university had been strongly criticized by CIA Director Mike Pompeo for inviting Manning, the newspaper reported. Pompeo had withdrawn from an appearance at the Kennedy School.
"Harvard's actions," Pompeo said, "implicitly tell its students that you too can be a fellow at Harvard and a felon under United States law. … I believe it is shameful for Harvard to place its stamp of approval upon her treasonous actions."
Manning fired back at the school for pulling its invitation to her.
Elmendorf offered his apologies 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," Elmendorf added.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.