Former Fauci Adviser Indicted for Allegedly Concealing Covid-Related Records

A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci was indicted by the Department of Justice Tuesday for allegedly concealing records amidst probes into the origins of the coronavirus.

David Morens, 78, worked under Fauci while he served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The DOJ charged Morens 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. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

Morens, along with two unnamed co-conspirators, "concealed, removed, destroyed and caused the concealment, and removal of federal records to evade FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] and FRA [Federal Records Act]," according to the indictment.

During his time at NIH, which ran from 2006 to 2022, Morens used his personal email account to conduct government business, specifically discussing the origins of Covid-19 with Manhattan-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance president Peter Daszak. Morens deleted said emails after sending them.

He also spoke with NIH's FOIA liaison, asking for tips on how to evade FOIA requests.

"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," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. "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."

In February 2021, Morens wrote he "learned from our foia lady here how to make most emails disappear after i am foia’d but before the search starts, so I think we are all safe," adding that he "deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to gmail."

In another email from September 2021, Morens said he would "always communicate on gmail [sic] because my NIH email is FOIA’d constantly" and "delete anything I don’t want to see in the New York Times."

At the time, Morens oversaw a grant from NIH to EcoHealth Alliance, which ultimately funneled taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to fund coronavirus bat research.

The Department of Health and Human Services notified EcoHealth Alliance and Daszak in 2025 that the nonprofit is barred from receiving federal funding for five years, following scrutiny over the group's ties to coronavirus research.

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic investigated EcoHealth and Daszak, particularly the lack of transparency over Wuhan lab research. The committee also asked Daszak about his private communications with Morens.

Its investigation culminated with a public hearing, in which both Republicans and Democrats pressed Daszak, accusing him of obstruction and receiving internal NIH information and communications from Morens.

Fauci famously denied any knowledge of Morens's attempts to evade FOIA via his personal email account.

"With respect to his recent testimony before this subcommittee, I knew nothing of Dr. Moren’s actions regarding Dr. Daszak, EcoHealth, or his emails,” Fauci said during his June 2024 testimony. "It is important to point out for the record that despite his title, and even though he was helpful to me in writing scientific papers, Dr. Morens was not an adviser to me on institute policy or other substantive issues."

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a memo in May 2024 regarding the alleged misconduct, citing emails between Morens and Daszak. Some emails ostensibly mention Fauci, suggesting the former director was aware of Morens's actions regardless of his testimony.

"Peter, from Tony's numerous recent communications to me, and from what Francis has been vocal about over the past 5 days, they are trying to protect you, which also protects their own reputations," Morens wrote in an email to Daszak.

"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," Blanche said in a statement.