Dr. David Morens, a former senior advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the U.S. The plea, entered on Tuesday, relates to his efforts to conceal professional correspondence regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Morens faces up to five years in prison as part of a deal with the Department of Justice.
Morens, 78, also admitted that a co-conspirator provided him with wine and offered meals at Michelin-starred restaurants in exchange for his work to obstruct investigations. The Department of Justice had indicted Morens in April on five counts concerning his role in defrauding the U.S. by conspiring to hide emails related to the pandemic's origins. He had previously pleaded not guilty in May but has since changed his plea.
During his time as a senior advisor to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 2006 to 2022, Morens used his personal Gmail account as a "back-channel" to communicate with co-conspirators, despite these communications falling within his professional capacity and requiring maintenance on government systems. He allegedly bragged to co-conspirator Dr. Peter Daszak about his methods for making emails disappear, often using his official NIH signature while communicating via his personal account. This practice was intended to avoid scrutiny under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Court documents indicate that Morens, Daszak, and another co-conspirator, identified as Gerald Keusch, agreed to intentionally conceal their communications by using personal emails. This agreement was made after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) terminated a grant awarded to "Co-Conspirator 1" (Daszak) and after Morens pledged to help reinstate the funding. Daszak, former president of EcoHealth Alliance, had his NIH grant for bat coronavirus research canceled due to allegations that COVID-19 originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which received an NIAID subaward from Daszak. Morens and Keusch then reportedly pledged to help reinstate the funding to counter the narrative of a lab leak from WIV.
Morens admitted that Daszak conspired to pay "illegal gratuities" for his concealment efforts, including providing wine and suggesting future dining experiences at high-end restaurants. Taxpayer funds had supported Daszak's research at the Chinese lab, which lawmakers allege was involved in gain-of-function research and where COVID-19 is believed to have escaped.
Morens had previously apologized to lawmakers for deleting emails related to COVID-19 and for making misogynistic comments about former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. He testified before Congress in 2024 that he had learned how to make internal agency correspondence "disappear." Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the U.S. response to the pandemic and was the director of NIAID from 1984 to 2022, has not been charged with any wrongdoing in Morens' case. Neither Daszak nor Keusch have been charged with crimes.
Fauci himself testified before Congress last month, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over 100 times. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted earlier this month to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions, a move advocated by Republican Senator Rand Paul, who has since asked the DOJ to pursue charges against Fauci.
Morens' sentencing hearing is scheduled for November.