The Justice Department announced Tuesday that David Morens, who the department described as a senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 2006 to 2022, has been indicted by federal prosecutors on charges including concealing government records. The indictment alleges that he used personal email to hide communications, sought to restore a grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and plotted to pay illegal gratuities.
According to the indictment, Morens used his personal Gmail account to conceal federal records from public disclosure as part of an effort to avoid scrutiny. Prosecutors allege that he and co-conspirators, who have not been named, shared non-public NIH information and coordinated strategies to influence funding decisions through those private channels, in violation of federal transparency requirements.
The indictment further charges that Morens and two unnamed co-conspirators worked to reinstate a grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology after the NIH terminated it, a decision that the department said was based on allegations that COVID-19 may have emerged from a lab leak there. Prosecutors say Morens and his associates sought to counter that narrative, discussing ways to challenge the lab leak account in internal communications cited in the indictment.
Additionally, the indictment alleges that Morens and a co-conspirator plotted to provide illegal gratuities, including discussions about sending wine in exchange for unspecified official acts. An attorney for Morens, Timothy Belevetz, declined to comment on the charges.
The names of the two alleged co-conspirators have not been disclosed, and the extent of the evidence supporting the allegations is not publicly known. Morens has not entered a plea or issued a public statement, and his defense strategy remains unclear.