Dr. David Morens, the longtime senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pleaded guilty in Greenbelt federal court on Tuesday to conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States (18 U.S.C. ยง 371). The plea caps a records scandal that began with his own emails bragging about making federal documents disappear.
According to the DOJ: After the NIH terminated the bat coronavirus grant, Morens and a co-conspirator pledged to help its recipient restore the canceled funding and "counter the narrative that COVID-19 leaked from a lab."
The 78-year-old from Chester, Maryland, took the deal in exchange for prosecutors dropping the remaining charges in a five-count April indictment. Those dropped charges included destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting - counts that carried up to 20 years apiece at the maximum end. "By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did and will continue to do so," his attorney, Tim Belevetz, said.
Morens faces up to five years in federal prison,&n
