Ex-Fauci adviser David Morens pleads guilty to conspiring to conceal COVID-19 records

Published Aug 19, 05:37 AM UTC

David Morens, a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), pleaded guilty on August 18, 2026, to conspiring to evade public records laws and conceal government documents related to COVID-19 research grants. The 78-year-old was indicted in April for a scheme to thwart Freedom of Information Act requests starting in April 2020. Prosecutors said Morens used personal email to communicate about restoring a bat coronavirus grant and countering the lab leak narrative. He faces up to five years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for November 12. The plea follows Fauci's own appearance before a Senate panel, where he invoked the Fifth Amendment. The case is tied to ongoing debates over COVID-19's origins, with U.S. intelligence agencies divided on whether the virus leaked from a Wuhan lab or emerged naturally.