Fauci Adviser Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy; Evading FOIA, Destroying Records, and Improper Gifts

David Morens, an advisor to Dr. Fauci at NIAID, pleaded guilty on August 18, 2026 to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States. The charge was part of a plea agreement that dismissed four additional charges for destruction, alteration, or concealment of records. Morens originally faced up to 51 years in prison, but now faces a max penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy charge.

Senator Rand Paul, who has been investigating the origins of COVID-19 and calling for the arrest of Dr. Fauci, asked whether Morens’ plea deal could involve implicating Fauci.

The stipulation of facts from the plea agreement states that Morens admitted that he conspired with others to obstruct the lawful functions of HHS, NIH, and NIAID by using his Gmail account to create, exchange, conceal, remove, or, in some cases, destroy federal records. These records include discussions about the origins of COVID-19 and efforts to reinstate or protect funding for the terminated grant, including a subaward for the Wuhan Institute of Virology and EcoHealth Alliance.

Morens also admitted he deliberately attempted to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and Federal Records Act requirements. Prosecutors said the conspirators “policed” the use of official email and intentionally routed material off-system to hinder public disclosure during a time when there was significant interest in the origins of COVID-19.

The stipulation also covers a separate aspect of the conspiracy involving illegal gratuities, in which Morens received two bottles of wine for his “behind-the-scenes shenanigans.” Morens said he would author a scientific commentary paper concluding that the virus had a natural origin, which was titled “The Origin of COVID-19 and Why It Matters” and was published in July 2020. They also discussed potential benefits like meals at Michelin-starred restaurants.

The indictment and plea documents identify two unindicted co-conspirators by description. Co-Conspirator 1 is the president and chief executive officer of a New York-based nonprofit that received the 2014 bat-coronavirus grant and made a subaward to the Wuhan lab. This matches the description of Peter Daszak and his company, EcoHealth Alliance.

Co-Conspirator 2 is a physician-scientist and professor at an academic institution that received NIH funding. Public records and email chains identify him as Gerald Keusch, formerly associated with Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory. Neither of them has been charged. The documents state that Morens, the two co-conspirators “and others” agreed to the scheme, used the private email channel to exchange non-public NIH information and edit materials for the grantee, and back-channel selected information upward while avoiding official records.

It is unclear who the “others” are, but Dr. Richard Ebright and journalist Emily Kopp suggest it includes Jeffrey Taubenberger, who co-authored the paper Morens authored as part of his “behind-the-scenes shenanigans” for Daszak in return for two bottles of wine and potentially dinners at Michelin-star restaurants. Taubenberger is a gain-of-function researcher who famously reconstituted the Spanish Flu and later served as acting director of NIAID under Dr. Jay Bhattacharya’s leadership in Dr. Fauci’s old position. Taubenberger stepped down from that role in May of 2026.

Senator Paul named Jeremy Farrar in an X post as someone who collaborated closely with Fauci and NIH colleagues in private discussions about COVID-19 origins. Farrar wrote that he was 50/50 in determining whether the virus originated from a lab or a natural source. Farrar also had “significant involvement” in the Proximal Origins paper despite being unnamed as an author.

The documents name Dr. Fauci as “Senior NIAID Official 1,” whom Morens served as a senior adviser. The conspirators used a private Gmail account to back-channel non-public information to him, including material intended to influence decisions favorable to EcoHealth Alliance and to minimize damage from the grant termination while countering lab-leak narratives. Emails show Morens using his private Gmail to tell Daszak that “Tony is aware” and that there “are ongoing efforts within NIH to steer through this with minimal damage to you, Peter, and colleagues to NIH and NIAID.”

Dr. Fauci has previously denied any knowledge that Morens used his private Gmail or offered support to EcoHealth Alliance in exchange for improper gratuities. While Morens’ guilty plea for conspiracy includes the use of his Gmail account to bypass FOIA requests, there is also evidence that Dr. Fauci told a Washington Post reporter that he would contact her via his Gmail account. Fauci’s attorney later described the communication as a personal matter, but it involved the scrutiny NIAID was receiving under Fauci’s leadership for sandfly experiments conducted with Beagle dogs in Tunisia.

The Washington Post report, written by Yasmeen Abutaleb, claimed that NIAID was erroneously listed as a funder on the Tunisia research and the angry calls were part of a campaign to “leverage hostility” by a “little-known animal-rights group” known as the White Coat Waste Project (WCWP). WCWP later released more information showing proof that NIAID did conduct these experiments, including a video of the head of the Tunisian lab stating the research was funded “through the institute that Tony Fauci is currently managing.”

“In April 2020, White Coat Waste was the very first to expose Fauci’s funding for gain-of-function animal experiments at the Wuhan lab — and ever since we’ve led the campaign to hold Fauci and his cronies accountable for abusing animals and their COVID cover-up,” said Anthony Bellotti, Founder of WCWP. “David Morens deserves the maximum penalty for conspiring to defraud taxpayers and for hiding what really happened in Wuhan.”

Senator Ron Johnson asked Dr. Fauci to appear for a transcribed interview, but Fauci declined the invitation. Dr. Fauci’s attorneys responded to the invitation by stating that compelling him to appear before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations “would have no legislative purpose and would operate only to impermissibly harass or degrade Dr. Fauci for political purposes.”

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt for pleading the 5th during Senate testimony, even though he has a legal pardon that protects him from federal prosecution. The DOJ now has the discretion to bring charges against Dr. Fauci. Attorney Aaron Siri also explained that Dr. Fauci made several mistakes in the way he pleaded the 5th to questions about the color of his tie and the day of the week. One cannot plead the 5th to questions that would not be self-incriminating.