A former senior adviser to infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded guilty Tuesday to plotting to conceal federal records related to research on the origins of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr. David Morens, who had worked under Fauci as a senior official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) during the pandemic, entered his plea to a conspiracy charge during a hearing in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Morens pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, a felony punishable by a maximum prison sentence of five years. He is scheduled to be sentenced 12 November by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis.
“By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so," defense attorney Tim Belevetz said in a statement after the plea hearing.
Morens is accused of using his private email account to intentionally circumvent public records laws while employed at NIAID. The Justice Department alleges that he concealed or destroyed records of discussions related to COVID-19 research grants, including an effort to revive a controversial coronavirus grant.
The indictment follows a probe by House Republicans into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic that scrutinized Morens’ email communications and accused him of intentionally concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied attempting to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.
In July, Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional hearing on his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
