David Morens was formerly a senior adviser to Anthony Fauci when he was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Morens also co-authored several science papers with the former director. One of these argued hubristically in Cell that the U.N. and the World Health Organization should be empowered to “rebuild the structure of human existence” toward the end of preventing future pandemics. Imagine the bureaucratic possibilities!
Back in 2024, Morens was suspected of avoiding FOIA requests around the funding of gain-of-function research that might have led to Covid. Soon thereafter, Fauci distanced himself from his former colleague in congressional testimony, stating that while Morens had helped with some science papers, he wasn’t really an adviser on NIAID policy.
Now, Morens has been indicted. From the DOJ press release:
A former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) employee is facing indictment for his role in a scheme to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in connection with COVID-19 research grants.
David M. Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland, is 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. Morens served as a senior advisor in NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022.
“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,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “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.”
Intriguingly, two unnamed “co-conspirators” are alleged to have participated in the information-suppressing plot:
According to the indictment, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, Co-Conspirator 2, and others conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud and commit several offenses against the United States after NIH terminated Co-Conspirator 1’s grant. NIH terminated the grant, Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence (bat coronavirus grant), based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. NIAID awarded the grant to Company #1 and Co-Conspirator 1, who made a subaward to the WIV.
Following the termination, Morens and Co-Conspirator 2 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.
Hellbound and Down 