Harvard scraps Manning invite after CIA objects

CHELSEA MANNING’S invitation to be a visiting fellow at Harvard has been withdrawn by the university after protests from the CIA’S director.

Ms Manning, the 29-year-old former army private who handed thousands of documents to Wikileaks and served seven years in prison, was invited to speak there this autumn.

But days after the offer was made, Douglas Elmendorf, the dean of the Kennedy School of Government, said the invite was “a mistake”.

Mr Elmendorf said she was still welcome to speak at the forum. Ms Manning said she was disappointed at the decision, which was prompted in part by Mike Pompeo, the CIA director, withdrawing from an appearance and criticising the institution for giving a platform to an “American traitor”.

“Harvard’s actions implicitly tell students that you can be a fellow at Harvard and a felon under United States law,” he said.