Former Fauci Adviser Pleads Guilty to Evading Public Records Laws

David Morens, a former senior official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and adviser to Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty in federal court in Maryland to conspiring to evade public records laws.

According to prosecutors, he attempted to conceal government documents and thwart Freedom of Information Act requests related to the funding of bat coronavirus research and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morens, 78, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on 12 November. Prosecutors said that, to conceal communications concerning efforts to restore a canceled bat coronavirus research grant under which the Wuhan Institute of Virology had received a sub-award, he knowingly used a private email account instead of his government account.

The origins of the pandemic remain unresolved.

The FBI says a leak from a Wuhan laboratory likely caused the pandemic, while the CIA reached the same conclusion with “low confidence”. Four other US intelligence agencies and the National Intelligence Council believe natural transmission from animals to humans is more likely.

Fauci has denied wrongdoing in connection with the pandemic and the research funding controversy.

(Reuters, max)