Ex-Fauci adviser pleads guilty to plotting to conceal COVID-19 research records
A former senior adviser to infectious <a href="https://healthylife7.com/1-in-4-korean-adults-has-metabolic-fatty-liver-disease/” title=”1 in 4 Korean adults has metabolic fatty liver disease”>disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has pleaded guilty to plotting to conceal federal records related to research on the origins of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic
ByThe Associated Press
August 18, 2026, 8:02 PM
GREENBELT, Md. –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 is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12 by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis 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
“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 the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 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
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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. Last Friday, Fauci declined a request to appear voluntarily before a second Senate panel after majority Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee voted along partisan lines to hold him in contempt of Congress
Fauci wasn’t charged in the case against Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland
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