Dr. David M. Morens, a former top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, was arrested and charged Tuesday with conspiracy and destruction of federal records in one of the first cases to allege a cover-up in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The charges – brought by the FBI, Justice Department and the U.S. Health and Human Services inspector general – allege the former senior scientific adviser at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Fauci led for 38 years, committed conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting.

Morens, 78, of Chester, Md., served as a senior advisor in NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022, the year Fauci retired. 

The National Institutes of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The filing of the charges was immediately praised by two powerful investigative chairmen in Congress who had alleged Morens was destroying records and using private email to keep information about the coronavirus and its origins from Congress.

"More than two years ago, my PSI staff discovered and made public emails in which Dr. David Morens bragged to colleagues about his efforts to avoid transparency by destroying federal records and using his personal email to communicate on 'sensitive issues,'" said Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

House Oversight Commitee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., commended the Department of Justice for what he said was efforts to bring accountability for wrongdoing uncovered by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

“The House Oversight Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic uncovered evidence revealing Dr. Morens – a top advisor to Dr. Fauci – intentionally took action to conceal and falsify records about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic," Comer said. "We caught Dr. Morens red-handed as he boasted in emails about how the ‘FOIA lady’ coached him on how to hide records and cover-up information. I applaud the Trump Justice Department for taking action to hold this public official accountable for hiding information from the American people. No one is above the law and under the Trump Administration, overdue accountability is finally here."

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “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. As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Morens and his co-conspirators deliberately concealed information and falsified records in an effort to suppress alternative theories regarding the origins of COVID-19. 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.”

Said FBI Director Kash Patel: “Circumventing records protocols with the intention of avoiding transparency is something that will not be tolerated by this [ageny.] Not only did Morens allegedly engage in the illegal obfuscation of his communications, but he received kickbacks for doing so. If you have engaged in activity conspiring against the United States, we will not stop until you face justice.”

The indictment alleges that Morens:

• Conspired with two others during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud and commit several offenses against the United States after NIH terminated a grant called Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. 
• Conspired with others to restore the termination of the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab. 
• Agreed in writing to intentionally hide from public view their communications by corresponding using Morens’s personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH email account.
• Received a gratuity in the form of wine for his “behind-the-scenes shenanigans,” and identified an official act that he could perform to “deserve” the gift, which was a scientific commentary in a prominent medical journal advocating that COVID-19 had natural origins.