Dr. David Morens, a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), pleaded guilty in federal court to a conspiracy charge for plotting to conceal government records and evade public transparency laws regarding COVID-19 origins and research grants.
As reported by AP news, Morens faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in federal prison, with sentencing scheduled for November 12.
Federal prosecutors stated that beginning in April 2020, Morens deliberately used his personal Gmail account instead of official government channels to conduct agency business.
The scheme was designed to thwart Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and hide discussions about controversial research grants.
The investigation initially sparked by a probe from the House Oversight Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic—centered around communications regarding a $3.1 million NIH bat coronavirus grant (which included a subaward to the Wuhan Institute of Virology via EcoHealth Alliance).
Prosecutors alleged Morens plotted to help restore canceled grants and counter the narrative that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a lab.
“By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so,” Timothy Belevetz, his lawyer, said in a statement.
The plea came after Fauci, who led the NIAID for 38 years and became the face of the U.S. pandemic response, appeared before a Senate panel last month and repeatedly invoked his right against self-incrimination as he accused Republican Senator Rand Paul, a longtime adversary from Kentucky, of pursuing an “unhinged” campaign to see him imprisoned.
While Dr. Fauci himself was not charged in connection with Morens’ guilty plea, the case follows intense ongoing congressional scrutiny regarding the handling of pandemic origins, including recent high-profile hearings where Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights.
