“In anticipation that their communications would be requested through a FOIA Request, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, and Co-Conspirator 2 agreed in writing to intentionally hide from public view their communications.”
The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that a longtime senior advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci has been indicted for allegedly using a personal email to hide communications related to research grants that sought the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic.
David Morens, who served as a senior advisor in NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022, has been charged with conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, per the Department of Justice.
The DOJ wrote that the National Institute of Health terminated the grant titled "Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence," also called the "bat coronavirus grant," based on "allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China."
The NIAID awarded the grant to Company #1 and Co-Conspirator 1, which made a subaward to the Wuhan lab, the DOJ said. Morens and Co-Conspirator 2, following the termination, "pledged to help Co-Conspirator 1 restore the termination of the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab."
"In anticipation that their communications would be requested through a FOIA Request, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, and Co-Conspirator 2 agreed in writing to intentionally hide from public view their communications by corresponding using Morens’s personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH email account."
In the email exchanges, Morens and the co-conspirators sent "non-public NIH information; correspond about their efforts to influence NIH to fund Company #1; exchange edits to drafts of letters addressed to NIH leadership for Company #1 and Co-Conspirator 1; and “back-channel” information to Senior NIAID Official 1." The DOJ said that these communications fell within Moren’s role as senior advisor and constituted federal records "that needed to be created, maintained, and exchanged on government systems."
Morens was also given gifts for his efforts, including wine delivered to his Maryland residence, by co-conspirator 1. "The indictment further alleges that Co-Conspirator 1 suggested he would provide Morens with additional things of value, including meals at Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, New York, and Washington, DC."
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement, "These allegations represent a profound abuse of trust at a time when the American people needed it most — during the height of a global pandemic. As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Morens and his co-conspirators deliberately concealed information and falsified records in an effort to suppress alternative theories regarding the origins of COVID-19. Government officials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest — not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas."
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