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Ex-NIAID official pleads guilty in records concealment case
David Morens admitted hiding pandemic emails to avoid FOIA requests, faces up to five years in prison, the Justice Department said.
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David Morens, a former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. The charge stems from a scheme to hide federal records related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Justice Department said.
Morens admitted in federal court that he moved emails about the pandemic to a personal account to keep them from being released under the Freedom of Information Act. He said he did it to stop misinformation and to protect Dr. Anthony Fauci from threats, prosecutors said. Fauci has not been charged.