House COVID-19 subcommittee subpoenas top Fauci advisor over obstruction allegations

House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup announced a subpoena for a top ally of Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday, over allegations he deliberately obstructed the subcommittee's investigation.

The subpoena is for Dr. David Morens, a top advisor for Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and accuses him of trying to stall his testimony until after Fauci testifies on June 3. The subpoena demands Morens' testimony at a hearing on May 22. 

“This appears to be a poorly veiled attempt to protect Dr. Fauci, insulate him from the actions the Select Subcommittee is investigating, and obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation,” Wenstrup wrote in a cover letter of the subpoena. “Accordingly, your actions have left us no choice but to compel your testimony.”

The subpoena comes after emails obtained by the subcommittee allegedly proved that lawyers for Morens were trying to stall his testimony in messages from EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak. 

“Each day of delay helps. They’re trying to book David in for a public hearing between mine (May 1st) and Fauci’s (June 3rd),” Daszak wrote in an email on April 20, per the subcommittee's news release. “David’s lawyers are trying to negotiate and delay his til after Tony.”

A few days later, Morens' team provided four alternative dates, where three would have occurred after Congress broke for summer recess.

The subcommittee issued two other subpoenas for Morens previously, to obtain emails sent from his personal email address instead of work email, where Morens and Daszak appeared to discuss the origins of the coronavirus. The private account was used to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, according to emails the committee released last year.

It comes a day after Wenstrup asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to declassify documents related to the virus's origins. Wenstrup said the classified documents, which have been heavily redacted, lend credibility to the theory that the virus started from a lab leak in Wuhan, China.

“We write to you today to request that you immediately take steps to declassify this information such that the American people have a more complete picture of the government’s evidence regarding the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wenstrup urged in a letter on Tuesday.