DOJ Indicts Fauci’s Former Top Advisor For Conspiracy Against US

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday it has indicted a top Fauci-era National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases employee for allegedly taking part in a scheme to conceal federal records regarding COVID-19 research grants.

The DOJ said that David Morens, 78, has been charged with conspiracy against the U.S., which includes destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations, concealment, removal or mutilation of records as well as aiding and abetting. From 2006 to 2022, Morens served as a senior advisor to former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

According to the indictment, Morens, two unnamed co-conspirators, and others allegedly conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the U.S. and commit related offenses after the NIH terminated one of the co-conspirators’ grant. The grant, named “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence,” was terminated following allegations that COVID-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. NIAID had awarded the grant to company #1 and co-conspirator 1, who in turn issued a subaward to the WIV, according to the DOJ.

In the aftermath of the termination, Morens and co-conspirator 2 reportedly committed to helping Co-Conspirator 1 reinstate the grant and push back against claims that COVID-19 resulted from a laboratory leak, according to the DOJ. Anticipating that their communications might be subject to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, and Co-Conspirator 2 allegedly agreed in writing to conceal their correspondence from public disclosure by using Morens’s personal Gmail account instead of his official NIH email.