David Morens, a former advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci and senior official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to evade records requests involving COVID-19 research grants, FBI Director Kash Patel announced.
"After an FBI investigation with our DOJ partners, Dr. Fauci’s associate, David Morens, just pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a scheme to avoid FOIA requests and the Federal Records Act connected to COVID-19 research grants," Patel wrote in a Tuesday post on X.
"The FBI uncovered that Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, Co-Conspirator 2, and others conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the United States after the National Institutes of Health terminated Co-Conspirator 1’s grant," Patel's post continued.
"NIH terminated the grant, 'Understanding the Risk of Bat coronavirus Emergence,' based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. Mr. Morens and his co-conspirators then agreed in writing to intentionally hide their communications from public view by corresponding through Morens’s personal Gmail account rather than his official NIH email account," Patel also added.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Morens in April, charging him with conspiracy, destruction and concealment of federal records and related offenses.
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Morens, it was revealed after the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic acquired his emails, instructed colleagues to circumvent his official NIAID email and communicate with him through his private email address.
"This is sent from my gmail account. Please send all replies here To gmail ... There are things I cant say except [Senior NIAID official 1] is aware and I have learned that there are ongoing efforts within NIH to steer through this with minimal damage to you, [Co-Conspirator 1], and colleagues, and to nih and niaid," Morens wrote to a colleague, according to emails released by the committee.
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In another email Morens wrote to EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak, Morens appeared to recount how a Fauci aide instructed him to delete emails.
"I learned from your FOIA lady here now how to make emails disappeared when I am FOIA'ed but before the search starts, so I think we are all safe. Plus, I deleted most of these earlier emails after sending them to Gmail," he wrote in 2021.
"In another email, dated 4/21/21, Morens wrote, "I forgot to say, there is no worry about FOIAs. I can either send stuff to Tony on his private email or hand it to him at work or at his house. He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.''
Daszak, who ran the EcoHealth firm that obtained a federal grant to study coronaviruses in China, was debarred from receiving federal grant funding in 2025 after allegedly failing to disclose the grant's role in funding gain-of-function research on viruses.
When sentenced on Nov. 12, Morens could face up to five years in prison.
"By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so," Morens' attorney Timothy Belevetz said in a statement, according to NBC News.
Fox News Digital contacted Morens' attorney, the DOJ and the NIAID for further comment.
