Fauci’s Senior Advisor Told Congress He Learned to “Make Emails Disappear.” He Just Pleaded Guilty to It.
- 16 Years David Morens served as a senior advisor in NIAID's Office of the Director under Dr. Anthony Fauci, 2006 to 2022 — DOJ press release, Aug. 2026
- 1 Count of conspiracy to defraud the United States that Morens pleaded guilty to on August 18, 2026, after an April indictment charged additional records-related counts — DOJ; The Hill
- 5 Years the maximum prison sentence Morens faces at his November 12, 2026 sentencing, alongside a fine of up to $250,000 — DOJ press release
- 2 Bottles of Wine the gratuity Morens admitted accepting from Peter Daszak, the former EcoHealth Alliance president identified as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case — STAT News
In May 2024, David Morens sat before a House committee and, under questioning, described how he’d avoided public-records requests about COVID-19 origins research. On August 18, 2026, he stood before a federal judge in Greenbelt, Maryland, and pleaded guilty to exactly what he’d described.
Morens spent 16 years as a senior advisor in NIAID’s Office of the Director, working closely with Dr. Anthony Fauci until Fauci left government service at the end of 2022. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, admitting he used a personal Gmail account and deleted records specifically to evade Freedom of Information Act requests during the pandemic.
Fauci himself has not been charged. The Department of Justice and The Washington Post both state explicitly that he is not accused of wrongdoing in this case, even as press reports note an unnamed “Senior NIAID Official 1” appears in charging documents — an inference from reporters, not a DOJ allegation against Fauci.
The paper trail behind the plea is not subtle. On February 24, 2021, Morens sent an email later surfaced by the watchdog group U.S. Right to Know: “i learned from our foia lady here how to make emails disappear after i am foia’d but before the search starts, so i think we are all safe.” In a separate message, he wrote: “I learned the tricks last year from an old friend, Marg Moore, who heads our FOIA office and also hates FOIAs.”
Those emails became public through the investigation of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, chaired by Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH). On May 22, 2024, the subcommittee held a hearing titled “A Hearing with the NIAID Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. David Morens,” where Wenstrup pressed him directly on whether he had been truthful with investigators.
DOJ indicted Morens in April 2026 on charges including destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in a federal investigation and concealment or removal of records. “These allegations represent a profound abuse of trust at a time when the American people needed it most — during the height of a global pandemic,” said then-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at the time. FBI Director Kash Patel added: “Circumventing records protocols with the intention of avoiding transparency is something that will not be tolerated by this FBI.”
“[Morens and his co-conspirators] deliberately concealed information and falsified records in an effort to suppress alternative theories regarding the origins of COVID-19.”
Todd Blanche, then-Acting Attorney General, April 2026
On August 18, Morens pleaded guilty to one consolidated conspiracy count before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, resolving the case ahead of the additional charges. His attorney, Tim Belevetz, said: “By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so.”
Court release conditions identify two unindicted co-conspirators: former EcoHealth Alliance president Peter Daszak, who gave Morens wine and offered Michelin-starred meals in New York, Washington, and Paris, and Boston University’s Dr. Gerald Keusch. Neither has been criminally charged. Daszak was separately debarred from federal funding for five years by HHS, through May 2029, and EcoHealth Alliance terminated his employment in January 2025.
Today - Dr. Fauci's former senior advisor, David Morens, pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the US.
Judge Xinis will sentence Morens on November 12, 2026. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine under the conspiracy count, though actual sentences for cooperating defendants in records cases typically fall well below the statutory maximum. DOJ and FBI leadership have both framed the plea as a marker for how future FOIA-evasion cases across the federal government will be prosecuted.
BREAKING: Major Fauci advisor David Morens PLEADS GUILTY for conspiracy to defraud the US, DOJ announces. He was involved in HIDING federal records during COVID.
David Morens, a 16-year senior NIAID advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci, pleaded guilty on August 18, 2026 to conspiracy to defraud the United States by concealing COVID-19-origins records and evading FOIA requests. He had told a 2024 congressional hearing he’d learned to “make emails disappear.” Peter Daszak and Dr. Gerald Keusch are identified as unindicted co-conspirators; neither is charged. Fauci is not accused of wrongdoing in this case. Morens faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at his November 12, 2026 sentencing before Judge Paula Xinis.
