Former acting CIA Director Michael Morell announced his resignation from Harvard University over Chelsea Manning being named as a visiting fellow at the prestigious school, Fox News reported.
Morell was a senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Harvard announced Wednesday that Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst convicted for leaking classified documents, would be joining Harvard as a visiting fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and that she will speak on issues of LGBTQ identity in the military.
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"Senior leaders in our military have stated publicly that the leaks by Ms. Manning put the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk," Morell wrote. "I have an obligation to my conscience — and I believe to the country — to stand up against any efforts to justify leaks of sensitive national security information."
Morell made it clear in his resignation letter that he fully supports “Ms. Manning’s rights as a transgender American, including the right to serve our country in the US military,” according to the letter shared by CBS News.
However, he said “The Kennedy School’s decision will assist Ms. Manning in her long-standing effort to legitimize the criminal path that she took to prominence, an attempt that may encourage others to leak classified information as well.”
Mackenzie Wolf is an editorial intern for Military Times.
