Former Fauci adviser indicted over alleged COVID records concealment

Federal prosecutors accuse former Fauci adviser Dr. David Morens of hiding or destroying communications tied to COVID-19 research grants.

A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci has been indicted on federal charges accusing him of conspiring to conceal communications about COVID-19 research while the pandemic was unfolding, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

Dr. David Morens, 78, is accused of using a private email account to intentionally avoid public records laws while he was employed at the National Institutes of Health. Prosecutors allege he concealed or destroyed records involving COVID-19 research grants, including discussions about an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.

The case touches one of the most politically charged areas of the pandemic response: how the federal government handled information about COVID-19 research and the still-unproven origins of the virus. Scientists have not determined whether the virus moved from animals to humans or resulted from a laboratory accident, and a U.S. intelligence analysis released in 2023 found there was not enough evidence to prove either theory.

Morens faces charges including conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting, according to the Justice Department. If convicted, he could face decades in prison. An attorney for Morens declined to comment, CBC News reported.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that the allegations amounted to “a profound abuse of trust” during the height of the pandemic. Blanche also said Morens’s alleged conduct was part of an effort to “suppress alternative theories” about COVID-19’s origins.

The Justice Department also accused Morens of having an improper relationship with a collaborator, including allegedly accepting a gift of wine and discussing COVID-19 research and possible publications in a prominent medical journal.

The indictment follows a House Republican probe into the origins of the pandemic that examined Morens’s email communications and accused him of deliberately concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied trying to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.

The next step in the case will be in federal court, where prosecutors will have to prove the allegations and Morens will have an opportunity to respond formally to the charges.