Former NIAID Adviser Pleads Guilty in COVID-19 Records Scheme A former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has pleaded guilty to charges related to a scheme to conceal federal records during the COVID-19 pandemic. David Morens, 78, agreed to a plea deal with federal prosecutors in Maryland, admitting to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The charge stems from his alleged role in shielding sensitive communications about the pandemic from public scrutiny. Morens faces up to five years in prison as part of the agreement. Morens served as a senior adviser at NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 to 2022. He was indicted in April 2023 on five counts, including allegations that he participated in a scheme to mislead the public by hiding records related to the pandemic. Prosecutors claimed he worked with two co-conspirators to circumvent transparency laws. One co-conspirator, identified as the president and CEO of a New York-based nonprofit, was linked to a 2014 grant titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.” The Wuhan Institute of Virology in China received a subaward from this nonprofit, though the National Institutes of Health (NIH) terminated the grant in April 2020 following lab-leak allegations. NIAID, a division of the NIH, is central to the case. The second co-conspirator was described as a physician, scientist, and professor affiliated with an academic institution that received federal grants. Emails released by the GOP-led Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic revealed that the New York nonprofit in question was the EcoHealth Alliance, and its president, Peter Daszak, was identified as co-conspirator 1.#anthony_fauci #nialid #david_morens #ecohealth_alliance #wuhan_institute_of_virology
CIA Whistleblower to Testify on Alleged COVID-19 Origins Cover-Up A longtime CIA employee is set to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday, alleging that federal intelligence officials engaged in a years-long conspiracy to conceal the true origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The testimony, part of Senator Rand Paul’s broader investigation into former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, centers on claims that leadership within the intelligence community suppressed evidence of a potential lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, has been a vocal critic of Fauci, accusing him of misleading Congress about the role of gain-of-function research—controversial experiments that enhance a virus’s transmissibility and virulence—during the pandemic. The Senate hearing coincides with the expiration of the statute of limitations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pursue criminal charges against Fauci for allegedly lying about his involvement in funding such research. Despite the DOJ’s deadline passing on Monday, Paul emphasized that the public’s right to the truth remains paramount. The whistleblower, whose identity has not been disclosed, is said to have worked within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and was involved in analyzing the pandemic’s origins. According to Paul, the individual will provide firsthand accounts of how intelligence officials allegedly buried evidence, altered conclusions, and withheld information from the public. “For years, Americans were told to stop asking questions about COVID’s origins,” Paul stated on X.#department_of_justice #cia #senate_homeland_security #anthony_fauci #wuhan_institute_virology
