Ex-NIAID Adviser Pleads Guilty In Scheme To Hide COVID-19 Records
Former NIAID senior adviser David Morens pleaded guilty in Maryland on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States for hiding COVID-19 records.[1]
Prosecutors said Morens admitted he and two co-conspirators used his personal Gmail between April 2020 and December 2022 to discuss COVID-19, its origins and a terminated bat coronavirus grant to avoid creating disclosable federal records.[1] Charging documents tie the scheme to Freedom of Information Act requests for communications with a New York nonprofit that funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology.[1] Court filings identified the nonprofit as EcoHealth Alliance and its president, Peter Daszak.[1]
In June 2020, Morens accepted two bottles of wine delivered to his Maryland home as illegal gratuities in exchange for what the donor called his "behind-the-scenes shenanigans," court filings say.[1] Prosecutors say the back-channel emails and messages shared nonpublic National Institutes of Health information.[1] Court filings say that material was used to pass information to a senior NIAID official who appears to be former director Anthony Fauci.[1]
Morens pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States in federal court in Maryland.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- On Tuesday, August 18, 2026, former NIAID senior adviser David Morens pleaded guilty in Maryland to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States.
- Morens admitted he and two co-conspirators used his personal Gmail account between April 2020 and December 2022 to discuss COVID-19, its origins and a terminated bat coronavirus grant to avoid creating disclosable federal records.
- Charging documents tie the scheme to FOIA requests for communications with a New York nonprofit that funded the Wuhan Institute of Virology, identified in congressional emails as EcoHealth Alliance and its president, Peter Daszak.
- Morens also admitted conspiring with the nonprofit head to accept illegal gratuities, including two bottles of wine delivered to his Maryland home in June 2020 for his "behind-the-scenes shenanigans," with offers of further items of value.
- Prosecutors say the back-channel communications shared nonpublic NIH information and were used to pass information to a senior NIAID official, described in court filings as appearing to be former director Anthony Fauci.
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