BREAKING: Former Fauci Advisor Pleads Guilty to Concealing COVID-19 Records

JUST IN: Anthony Fauci’s former senior advisor David Morens just pled GUILTY to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

He deserves the maximum penalty possible!

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— Proud Elephant

(@ProudElephant) August 18, 2026

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BREAKING: Dr. Fauci’s Former Senior Advisor David Morens Just Plead GUILTY to Charges Connected to Concealing and DESTROYING Federal Records During COVID-19

Morens back-channeled using a private Gmail account instead of his official NIH email to intentionally hide… pic.twitter.com/4s5UYDANmw

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 18, 2026

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BREAKING: Dr. Fauci’s Former Senior Advisor David Morens Just Plead GUILTY to Charges Connected to Concealing and DESTROYING Federal Records During COVID-19

Morens back-channeled using a private Gmail account instead of his official NIH email to intentionally hide communications. He then was caught destroying federal records to evade FOIA.

Time to charge Fauci next.

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A former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) employee pled guilty in federal court, today, to a conspiracy charge stemming from a scheme to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and the Federal Records Act in connection with communications about coronavirus research grants.

David M. Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States. Morens served as a senior advisor in NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, FBI Baltimore Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Marcus L. Sykes, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

According to his guilty plea, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, Co-Conspirator 2, and others conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the United States after NIH terminated Co-Conspirator 1’s grant. NIH terminated the grant, Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence, based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in Wuhan, China. NIAID awarded the grant to Company 1 and Co-Conspirator 1, who made a subaward to the WIV.

Following the termination, Morens and Co-Conspirator 2 pledged to help Co-Conspirator 1 restore the termination of the bat coronavirus grant and counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab. In anticipation that their communications would be requested through FOIA Requests, Morens, Co-Conspirator 1, and Co-Conspirator 2 agreed in writing to intentionally hide their communications from public view by corresponding using Morens’s personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH email account.

The co-conspirators used Morens’s personal Gmail account to exchange non-public NIH information; correspond about their efforts to influence NIH to fund Company 1; exchange edits to drafts of letters addressed to NIH leadership for Company 1 and Co-Conspirator 1; and “back-channel” information to Senior NIAID Official 1. According to court documents, each of these matters fell within Morens’s role as senior advisor and constituted federal records that needed to be created, maintained, and exchanged on government systems.

Additionally, as admitted to in his guilty plea, Morens and Co-Conspirator 1 conspired to pay illegal gratuities. Co-Conspirator 1 gifted Morens wine for his “behind-the-scenes shenanigans,” and arranged for its delivery to Morens’s Maryland residence. Morens then allegedly identified an official act that he could perform to “deserve” the gift, which was to author a scientific commentary in a prominent medical journal advocating that COVID-19 had natural origins. Co-Conspirator 1 suggested he would provide Morens with additional things of value, including meals at Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, New York, and Washington, D.C.

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The plea comes three weeks after Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) grilled Fauci about his relationship with Morens. At the Senate hearing, Fauci declined to answer questions, exercising his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. Two years ago, Fauci told a House Committee investigating the country’s response to the Covid pandemic that Morens’ actions were “wrong” and that he had not participated in them.

Morens, 78, had boasted in a 2021 email released by the House panel that he knew how to “make emails disappear after I am FOIA’d” to avert disclosure under the federal open records law.

He entered the guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, according to court records.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis set sentencing for Nov. 12. Morens faces a maximum of five years in prison on the felony conspiracy charge and a fine of up to $250,000. However, most defendants are sentenced under federal guidelines that typically call for sentences far short of the maximum, particularly for first-time offenders.

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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.

This is HUGE!

Morens could BLOW THE WHISTLE regarding even more would-be criminal activity by Fauci, if not for… pic.twitter.com/LxQWGX2cGy

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) August 18, 2026

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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.

This is HUGE!

Morens could BLOW THE WHISTLE regarding even more would-be criminal activity by Fauci, if not for the Pardon — which could aid state cases

Spill it all and LOCK UP FAUCI

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