Dr. Fauci aide under investigation by Republicans after bombshell admissions that a ‘FOIA lady’ helped him skirt federal transparency laws on COVID origins
Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s top aide admitted he circumvented federal laws to cover up correspondence about the origins of COVID.
Now House Republicans are stepping up their investigation into his “deliberate” attempts to avoid transparency over discussions about the origins of the coronavirus.
Dr. David Morens, a top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci during the COVID-19 pandemic, testified before Congress last week using a personal email account to discuss work-related topics.
According to his own correspondence, he did this to avoid federal transparency requirements under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Subpoenaed emails obtained by Republicans show that Morens said he “learned from our foia lady here how to make emails disappear.”
And how that “foia lady” Margaret Moore of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) helped Morens is now the subject of an investigation by House Republicans.
Dr. David Morens apologized to lawmakers for deliberately deleting his COVID-19 emails while serving as a top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci and for making misogynistic comments about former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky during a May 22, 2024 congressional hearing
The majority of the emails were between Morens and the vilified coronavirus researcher Dr. Peter Daszak, whom he considered a ‘best friend’.
Morens has claimed he did not know he was doing anything wrong and said he was not aware he was deleting federal data or that it was inappropriate to use his personal email for business matters.
But Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, is now calling for briefings with the National Archives and the NIH to discuss the extent of Morens’ cover-up.
“Taken together, this evidence indicates a conspiracy at the highest levels of NIH and NIAID to avoid public transparency about the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wenstrup wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to NIH Director Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli was sent.
“If what is contained in these documents is true, this is a clear attack on public trust and must be addressed with swift enforcement and consequences for those involved.”
“We are writing to request a staff-level briefing on NIH’s document retention, transparency, FOIA, and personal email policies no later than June 4, 2024,” the letter said.
In a letter also sent Tuesday to United States Archivist Colleen Shogan, Wenstrup similarly requested a briefing on the Archives’ “investigation into Morens’ use of a personal email to ensure transparency avoidance, including the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and possible unlawful disposition of official documents.’
Notably, the deadlines for the briefings come one day after Fauci is scheduled to testify before the committee on June 3.
In addition to requesting briefings from the National Archives and the NIH, Wenstrup revealed that Fauci’s former chief of staff, Greg Folkers, also used tactics to evade FOIA requests by deliberately misspelling words in his communications about COVID-19 and its origins.
Wenstrup raised concerns about a conspiracy to cover up the origins of COVID-19 at the ‘highest levels of NIH and NIAID’
Morens bragged to Daszak through his personal email account that he had learned how to make emails disappear. Notably, he used his official NIH signature at the bottom
Morens suggested to Daszak that he could send information to Fauci’s personal email or personally deliver it to circumvent transparency laws
Morens claimed he learned how to avoid FOIA investigations from Margaret Moore, who previously worked at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Daszak received millions in US federal funding to conduct research at the WIV and Morens later said in emails that Fauci and NIH colleagues would ‘protect’ him
“This evasion tactic ensures that when NIH searches its email server for keywords responsive to a FOIA request, Mr. Folkers’ emails containing the misspelled keyword will not be identified or produced as a responsive document,” wrote Wenstrup in a press release Tuesday.
One of the suspected typos involves Daszak’s nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, which has received $7.5 million in federal funding to conduct coronavirus and related research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), where some believe the virus was manufactured and later escaped.
“In an email sent via subpoena to the Select Subcommittee, Mr. Folkers appears to have intentionally misspelled “EcoHealth” as “Ec~Health,” the chairman wrote.
Although the NIH claims a thorough investigation into Dr. Morens, these evasive tactics – along with previously unearthed evidence that Dr. Morens began using a Proton Mail account after his Gmail was investigated by the Select Subcommittee – serious concerns that the NIH’s investigation missed important information,” the statement continued.
These latest developments come in the wake of Moren’s disastrous testimony before the COVID-19 committee on May 22.
The former Fauci aide was forced to apologize repeatedly for misogynistic comments in subpoenaed emails and for the reason he actually testified about in the first place: deleting those emails to leave a trail of communications between himself and Tie pocket to cover up.
EcoHealth’s research is central to the committee’s investigation into the origins of the virus, as are key allies of Daszak, Morens and Fauci himself.
Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance (left) pictured with Dr. Anthony Fauci (right)
Peter Daszak, right, Thea Fischer, left, and other members of the World Health Organization team investigating the origins of COVID-19 arrive at the Wuhan Institute of Virology
Amazingly, Morens also admitted to helping Daszak apply for federal funding and even asked him for a “kickback” after the coronavirus researcher received $7.5 million from the agency Morens oversees, according to e emails revealed by the committee.
‘Do I get a kickback????? Too much money! Do you deserve it all? Let’s discuss,” Morens sent Daszak in an email.
“Of course there is a kickback,” Daszak responded in an email revealed Wednesday.
Then Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, RN.Y. Pressed on the exchange last week, Morens said he was just joking.
“Eh, that’s typical black humor between people like Peter and I,” Morens responded.
Morens testified that he had not received any compensation from EcoHealth or Daszak.
Although several lawmakers on the committee didn’t seem to believe him.