David Morens, formerly an advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci and a senior official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), pleaded guilty on Tuesday. The charge involves conspiring to evade record requests related to COVID-19 research grants. FBI Director Kash Patel announced the plea.
“After an FBI investigation with our DOJ partners, Dr. Fauci’s associate, David Morens, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a scheme to avoid FOIA requests and the Federal Records Act related to COVID-19 grants,” Patel posted on X, outlining the case facts.
The investigation revealed that Morens, alongside others including Co-Conspirator 1 and Co-Conspirator 2, conspired to defraud the United States. This occurred following the termination of a grant by the National Institutes of Health. The grant, titled ‘Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence,’ faced termination due to allegations of COVID-19’s origins at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China.
Following the grant’s termination, Morens, with his colleagues, concealed their communications by using Morens’s personal Gmail, avoiding his official NIH email account. RAND PAUL BRINGS CIA WHISTLEBLOWER TO SENATE HEARING ALLEGING ‘DEEP STATE’ COVID-19 CONSPIRACY.
“Morens sent emails from his Gmail account, encouraging replies there to keep them from public records,” stated Patel.
In May 2026, Morens appeared in U.S. District Court on these charges. He could face up to five years in prison following his plea. The U.S. Department of Justice indicted him in April for conspiracy, destruction, and concealment of federal records.
Further investigation by the House Select Subcommittee uncovered emails showing Morens’s instruction to colleagues to use private email communications. He testified about this before the subcommittee in Washington, D.C., in May 2024.
In communications with EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak, Morens shared how a Fauci aide advised deleting emails. Morens also mentioned methods to hide email conversations from Freedom of Information Act requests.
Daszak previously led EcoHealth, which did not disclose its federal grant’s involvement in gain-of-function research, leading to debarment from federal funding in 2025.
Sentencing is set for November 12. Morens’s attorney, Timothy Belevetz, shared that Morens is taking responsibility for his actions.
Fox News Digital reached out to Morens’s legal team, the Department of Justice, and NIAID for more statements.
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