Bombshell: Fauci’s Longtime Adviser Pleads Guilty

A former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal conspiracy charge tied to efforts to hide communications about COVID-19 research grants and the origins of the pandemic. David M. Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, before Judge Paula Xinis.

Morens admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States. In exchange, prosecutors dropped four other charges related to destruction, alteration, or falsification of records and concealment of records. He served as a senior adviser in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022 while Fauci directed the institute.

After an FBI investigation with our DOJ partners, Dr. Fauci’s associate, David Morens, just pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a scheme to avoid FOIA requests and the Federal Records Act connected to COVID-19 research grants.

The FBI uncovered that Morens, Co-Conspirator 1,… pic.twitter.com/IR7TCUm10m

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) August 18, 2026

The conspiracy, according to the joint stipulation of facts, began around April 2020 and continued through at least June 2023. It arose after the National Institutes of Health terminated a 2014 grant titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.” That grant had gone to a New York-based nonprofit with a subaward to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Morens and others allegedly agreed to use his personal Gmail account to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests and Federal Records Act requirements.

One email from Morens stated: “This is sent from my gmail account. Please send all replies here To gmail […] There are things I cant say except [Senior NIAID Official 1] is aware and I have learned that there are ongoing efforts within NIH to steer through this with minimal damage to you, [Co-Conspirator 1], and colleagues, and to nih and niaid.” Court documents identify the senior official as Fauci. Co-Conspirator 1 has been identified in reporting as Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance.

The stipulation also notes that Co-Conspirator 1 provided Morens with two bottles of wine in June 2020 “in recognition of ‘behind-the-scenes shenanigans’” and indicated willingness to provide additional items of value. FBI Director Kash Patel posted that the investigation uncovered the scheme to avoid FOIA requests connected to COVID-19 research grants. Sen. Rand Paul asked whether the plea could implicate Fauci.

The maximum penalty is five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Sentencing is set for November 12, 2026. Fauci has not been charged and previously told a House subcommittee that Morens was not an adviser on institute policy, while acknowledging that many of Morens’s actions violated agency rules.

The guilty plea marks a significant development in ongoing scrutiny of pandemic-era decision-making and transparency at the highest levels of public health agencies.