Fauci Aide Pleads Guilty to Evading Public Records Laws

• David Morens, a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty to conspiring to evade federal public records laws.
• Morens used his personal email to conceal communications related to COVID-19 research grants and avoid Freedom of Information Act requests.
• The scheme involved efforts to restore a controversial coronavirus grant for EcoHealth Alliance.
• Morens faces a maximum of five years in prison.
• Sentencing is scheduled for November 12.

David Morens, a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to evade public records laws and conceal government documents related to grant research funding and the COVID-19 pandemic. Morens, 78, entered his plea to a conspiracy charge during a hearing in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland. He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on November 12.

Prosecutors alleged that Morens used his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He is accused of concealing or destroying records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant for EcoHealth Alliance. This grant cancellation followed allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan lab, and Morens allegedly pledged to help restore the grant and counter the lab leak narrative.

Morens and alleged co-conspirators agreed to use Morens' personal email to avoid their communications being sought through Freedom of Information Act requests. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led NIAID for 38 years, is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case. The origins of COVID-19 remain a subject of debate among U.S. intelligence agencies.