Congresswoman Removed From Harvard Advisory Committee Over Election Fraud Claims

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) questions witnesses during a House Intelligence Committee impeachment inquiry hearing on Capitol Hill November 21, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images)

Rep. Elise M. Stefanik (R-N.Y.) has been removed from a senior advisory committee to Harvard University’s Institute of Politics because of her decision to challenge the presidential election results last week.

Stefanik, a Harvard alumni, was among the congressional Republicans who rejected the certification of Electoral College votes from states where election integrity has come into question. Joined by six senators and some 120 representatives, she refused to sign off on electors from disputed states unless their legitimacy was proved by a 10-day emergency audit.

In a letter sent to members of the committee on Tuesday morning, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf said that Stefanik’s removal was due to her claims of election fraud, rather than “political parties, political ideology, or her choice of candidate for president.”

“In my assessment, Elise has made public assertions about voter fraud in November’s presidential election that have no basis in evidence, and she has made public statements about court actions related to the election that are incorrect,” Elmendorf wrote, reported student newspaper Harvard Crimson. “These assertions and statements do not reflect policy disagreements but bear on the foundations of the electoral process through which this country’s leaders are chosen.”

Elmendorf added that he asked the Congresswoman to resign from the committee, but she refused.

“In my conversation with Elise, she declined to step aside, and I told her that I would therefore remove her from the IOP’s Senior Advisory Committee at this time,” he wrote.

In response, Stefanik said the decision to remove her from the post shows that Harvard is “Bowing to the Far-Left.”

“The decision by Harvard’s administration to cower and cave to the woke Left will continue to erode diversity of thought, public discourse, and ultimately the student experience,” she wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. “The Ivory Tower’s march toward a monoculture of like-minded, intolerant liberal views demonstrates the sneering disdain for everyday Americans and will instill a culture of fear for students who will understand that a conservative viewpoint will not be tolerated and will be silenced.”

“Congratulations Harvard, the entire Board of the Institute of Politics now consists of only Joe Biden voters—how reflective of America,” she added.

The decision comes after nearly 700 Harvard affiliates petitioned for the Institute of Politics to cut ties with Stefanik. The petitioners alleged that Stefanik’s “improper” challenge to the election results has “enabled” violence that took place around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.