Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell has resigned his position as Senior Fellow at Harvardβs John F. Kennedy School of Government. In a lengthy, passionate letter to school dean Douglas Elmendorf, the Belferd Center fellow explained that he could be part of an organization that “honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information”.
Morell goes on to explain that “Ms.” Manning was convicted on six charges of espionage and leaked thousands of pages of classified intelligence to Wikileaks, and entity that is considered a hostile actor by the United States government.
“Senior leaders in our military have stated publicly that the leaks by Ms. Manning put the lives of US soldiers at risk. Upon her conviction, then Rep. Mike Rogers and Rep. Dutch Puppersberger, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee at the time, praised the verdict, saying ‘justice has been served today’. They added, ‘PFC.Manning harmed our national security, violated the public’s trust and now stands convicted of multiple serious crimes'”
Hey, remember when we used to execute people for espionage? Good times.
Morell acknowledges that the Belfer Center and the Institute of Politics are separate institutions within the Kennedy school, but says he does not wish to be a part of legitimizing “the criminal path she took to prominence, an attempt that may encourage others to leak classified information as well.”
The former CIA Deputy Director ends his letter by reiterating his support for transgenders and transgenders in the military (which seems unnecessary, but this is 2017) and scolding the school’s decision on Manning.
While it is wholly inappropriate for an educational institution to hire a convicted traitor, it is even more inappropriate when that convicted traitor is a guy who looks like this and uses this many emojis on Twitter.
making very bad people very mad π today is a good day for us πβοΈππ (feat. @KarlTheFog) https://t.co/mC1kDvQ2q2 pic.twitter.com/66NqytKzFe
— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) September 14, 2017
Here is the full text of Morell’s letter as tweeted by CBS.
NEW: Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell resigns as Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy school over hiring of Chelsea Manning pic.twitter.com/qrD7MCdVtx
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 14, 2017
Morell doesn’t want to teach next to this guy? Maybe they could exchange lipsticks!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member