Former CIA chief leaves Harvard after Manning named fellow

FILE- In this April 13, 2017, file photo Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo answers questions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. Pompeo is scheduled to make an appearance at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 14, to discuss allegations of Russian involvement in last year's presidential election, the nuclear standoff with North Korea, and other global security concerns. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) FILE- In this April 13, 2017, file photo Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo answers questions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. Pompeo is scheduled to make an appearance at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 14, to discuss allegations of Russian involvement in last year's presidential election, the nuclear standoff with North Korea, and other global security concerns. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

By Associated Press September 14, 2017 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – A former top CIA official has abruptly resigned as a senior fellow at Harvard University over the school’s decision to hire Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of leaking classified information.

Mike Morell, former deputy director and acting director of the CIA, sent a resignation letter Thursday to the dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Morell, who was a non-resident senior fellow, says he cannot be part of an organization that “honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information.” He says leaking classified information is “disgraceful.”

Manning has been invited to be a visiting fellow at the Kennedy school’s Institute of Politics.

She is a transgender woman who was convicted in 2013 of leaking more than 700,000 U.S. documents. Her sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama.