Dr. David Morens, a former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge involving efforts to hide COVID-19-era government records from public disclosure and now faces up to five years in prison.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Dr. David Morens, a former senior adviser at the federal agency long led by Dr. Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to conceal and destroy government records related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Morens entered the plea Aug. 18 under an agreement in which federal prosecutors will dismiss four other charges, according to the signed plea agreement.
He previously served as a senior adviser to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID. Fauci led the institute for decades before leaving the post in late 2022.
According to a joint court filing, Morens admitted conspiring with others to “hid[e] from public view various federal records related to this significant historical event.”
The filing states that the conspiracy was intended to defraud the United States by interfering with lawful government functions, including the processing of requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
FOIA allows members of the public to seek records held by federal agencies.
The case centers in part on communications between Morens and Peter Daszak, whose organization helped direct NIAID grant funding to researchers in Wuhan, China.
After the grant providing that funding was canceled, Morens wrote Daszak that Fauci was aware of the situation and that efforts were underway to limit the consequences.
“There are things I can’t say except [Fauci] is aware and I have learned there are ongoing efforts to steer through this with minimal damage to you” and government agencies, Morens wrote in one email.
Another 2020 message addressed how emails could be handled.
Morens told Daszak that he had been advised he could “cover” his “rear” by “deleting emails.”
Federal filings also state that Morens received benefits from Daszak, including two bottles of wine.
Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who is overseeing the case, that Morens promptly acknowledged and accepted personal responsibility for his criminal conduct.
Part of the plea arrangement remains outside public view.
A supplement to the agreement was filed under seal and is therefore unavailable to the public.
Morens faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
He could also receive as much as three years of supervised release after completing any prison term and faces a potential fine of up to $250,000.
Defendants who cooperate with prosecutors and accept responsibility frequently receive sentences below the statutory maximum, although the ultimate sentence will be determined by the court.
Morens is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12 in federal court in Maryland.
His guilty plea comes amid continued congressional scrutiny of Fauci and the handling of pandemic-era records and federal research funding.
A Senate committee recently voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress after he declined to answer questions concerning his conduct during and after the pandemic, including questions involving the grant connected to the Wuhan research.
The committee forwarded a recommendation to the Department of Justice that Fauci be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.
The Justice Department has not yet commented on that recommendation.
Fauci’s attorneys have argued that he was legally entitled to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
They have maintained that position despite Fauci having read an opening statement before declining to answer certain questions and despite his receipt of a pardon from then-President Joe Biden in 2025.
That pardon covered conduct from Jan. 1, 2014, through Jan. 19, 2025.
Morens’ guilty plea creates a separate criminal proceeding tied directly to the handling of federal records during the pandemic.
By admitting that he participated in an effort to keep government records from public view and obstruct lawful government functions, Morens has acknowledged criminal conduct involving the preservation and disclosure of records from one of the most consequential periods in recent federal public-health history.
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