{
  "id": 1786922,
  "title": "Former NIAID adviser pleads guilty in COVID-19 records scheme",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/former-niaid-adviser-pleads-guilty-in-covid-19-records-scheme",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-18T20:03:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "CBS News",
    "slug": "cbs-news",
    "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-morens-niaid-pleads-guilty-covid-records/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "David Morens, 78, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}