Former Fauci associate David Morens pleads guilty to conspiracy
Dr. David Morens, former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and once an associate to Dr. Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty Thursday to a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in relation to efforts to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the guilty plea Tuesday....
David Morens, a former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has pleaded guilty to charges related to a scheme to conceal federal records during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under a plea deal with federal prosecutors in Maryland, Morens, 78, admitted to conspiring to commit offenses and defraud the United States.
He faces up to five years in prison. The indictment stems from Freedom of Information Act requests by NIAID that sought emails between Morens and two individuals allegedly involved in the scheme. Morens and his co-conspirators allegedly exchanged emails about COVID-19 and the terminated coronavirus grant through Morens' personal Gmail account to avoid public records laws.
They also allegedly shared nonpublic information from NIH about COVID-19 and back-channel information to a senior NIAID official, possibly Anthony Fauci, the institute's former director. Morens received wine from co-conspirator 1 in 2020 for his alleged "behind-the-scenes shenanigans." While Fauci distanced himself from the investigation, he acknowledged Morens' actions were wrong and violated agency policy. Fauci has faced increasing scrutiny from Republicans in Congress.
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