--- title: Mike Pompeo Cancels Harvard Appearance Over Chelsea Manning description: CIA Director Mike Pompeo cancelled a scheduled appearance at Harvard University after it hired Chelsea Manning as a fellow canonical: https://time.com/4942882/mike-pompeo-cia-director-protests-chelsea-manning-harvard/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-15T00:40:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:51:37.266Z article:section: Politics og:title: CIA Director Mike Pompeo Cancels Harvard Appearance Over Chelsea Manning Hire og:description: Another former CIA official resigned his own fellowship over the hire og:url: https://time.com/4942882/mike-pompeo-cia-director-protests-chelsea-manning-harvard/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa4fdfef41d124df/6988ddec8fd2ee029d358de5/mike-pompeo-cia-director-harvard-chelsea-manning.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Intelligence Chiefs Testify At Senate Intelligence Hearing On World Wide Threats og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CIA Director Mike Pompeo Cancels Harvard Appearance Over Chelsea Manning Hire twitter:description: Another former CIA official resigned his own fellowship over the hire twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa4fdfef41d124df/6988ddec8fd2ee029d358de5/mike-pompeo-cia-director-harvard-chelsea-manning.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # CIA Director Mike Pompeo Cancels Harvard Appearance Over Chelsea Manning Hire > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6b2a3306-5f34-4f57-b723-0b1f40956f0a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What to Know About Chelsea Manning [Watch (HLS stream): What to Know About Chelsea Manning](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hFOpORd2.m3u8) (2:40)  _Published 2017-05-16. Chelsea Manning, an ex-Army soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret U.S. documents, is set to be released from prison on May 17, about four months after former President Obama drastically shortened her sentence just before he left office._ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Sep 15, 2017 12:40 AM UTC Chelsea Manning, an ex-Army soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret U.S. documents, is set to be released from prison on May 17, about four months after former President Obama drastically shortened her sentence just before he left office. by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Sep 15, 2017 12:40 AM UTC CIA Director Mike Pompeo cancelled a scheduled appearance at Harvard University on Thursday over the university’s Kennedy School of Government hiring of [Chelsea Manning](http://time.com/4832576/chelsea-manning-nyc-pride/?iid=sr-link9) as a visiting fellow. “While I have served my country as a soldier in the United States Army and will continue to defend Ms. Manning’s right to offer a defense of why she chose this path, I believe it is shameful for Harvard to place its stamp of approval upon her treasonous actions,” Pompeo said in a letter to Harvard on Thursday, according to [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/ex-cia-boss-resigns-harvard-after-chelsea-manning-hire-n801341?cid=sm%5Fnpd%5Fnn%5Ftw%5Fma). The Kennedy School announced [Manning’s fellowship](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/institute-politics-harvard-kennedy-school-announces-additional-visiting-fellows) on Wednesday, along with its other new fellows, including former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, was [convicted of leaking](http://time.com/4633920/wikileaks-julian-assange-extradition-chelsea-manning/) a trove of military and State Department documents. She served seven years in prison before former President Barack Obama [commuted her sentence](http://time.com/4781963/chelsea-manning-released-prison-wikileaks/?iid=sr-link10) in January. Pompeo was not the only CIA official to take issue with Manning’s appointment. Former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell on Thursday also resigned from his own position as a senior fellow at the Kennedy School in protest of Manning joining the school. “Unfortunately, I cannot be part of an organization — the Kennedy School — that honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information, Ms. Chelsea Manning, by inviting her to be a Visiting Fellow at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics,” Morell wrote in [a letter ](https://twitter.com/Mosheh/status/908367178067574784)to the school’s dean, Douglas Elmendorf, according to NBC. Morell’s letter detailed Manning’s convictions and said that while he supports her rights as a transgender American, he did not feel it was appropriate for the Kennedy School to host her. Pompeo supported Morell’s letter in his own statement. For their part, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, where Manning will serve as a fellow, stood by its decision. “Broadening the range and depth of opportunity for students to hear from and engage with experts, leaders and policy-shapers is a cornerstone of the Institute of Politics,” Bill Delahunt, acting director of the Institute of Politics, told NBC. “We welcome the breadth of thought-provoking viewpoints on race, gender, politics and the media.” ## Transcript Let's be clear. Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence. [ MUSIC ] And there's more that keep walking by and one of them has a weapon. [ MUSIC ] When I heard the sentence, 35 years, I think to myself I've represented hundreds of clients and my clients Have ranged the full spectrum of offenses from people who've committed murder to people who've molested children and those types of clients receive less time. I am Chelsea Manning, I am a female. [ MUSIC ] [ AUDIBLE ] Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine Pronoun. [ MUSIC ] Given she went to trial [ MUSIC ] That due process was carried out, that she took responsibility for her crime that the sentence that she received was very disproportionate Disproportionate relative to what other [ UNKNOWN ] had received. And that she had served a significant amount of time, that it made sense To commute, and not pardon [ UNKNOWN ]. 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