Dr. David Morens, a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States by concealing evidence related to COVID-19's origins.
Morens, who served as an adviser during Fauci's 43-year tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was indicted in April and faces a maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
The House Oversight Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic discovered Morens used a personal Gmail account for official business to evade Freedom of Information Act requests. In 2021, he instructed colleagues to use his personal email for sensitive matters, saying he would "delete anything [he did not] want to see in the New York Times," according to investigation findings.
Morens maintained a close friendship with Dr. Peter Daszak, who leads EcoHealth Alliance, a private firm that received federal funding for research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. NIAID funded EcoHealth Alliance's work on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab—research cited by those suspecting a lab leak as a potential origin for SARS-CoV-2.
Morens and at least two co-conspirators were charged on concealing records tied to a $3.1 million grant titled "Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence," which included a $600,000 subaward to the Wuhan lab. Authorities allege they worked to reinstate the grant and counter the lab-leak narrative.
The plea agreement references "Co-Conspirator 1," widely understood to be Daszak, as the author of an April 2020 email confirming EcoHealth Alliance personnel would "communicate with [Morens] via gmail from now on." The document states Morens and his co-conspirators "plotted and repeatedly expressed their intention to conceal federal records to evade FOIA."
They also provided information to "Senior NIAID Official 1"—understood to be Fauci—that was favorable to Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance. During House testimony in 2024, Fauci downplayed his relationship with Morens, saying Morens "should not have been doing that" when asked about his actions.
Morens's defense attorney Tim Belevetz said his client "has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so."
