Overview
- David M. Morens, 78, was charged Tuesday with conspiracy and multiple records crimes in federal court in Maryland after a grand jury indictment was unsealed.
- Prosecutors say he shifted government work to his personal Gmail to keep it off official systems and out of Freedom of Information Act searches, which let the public request federal records.
- The alleged scheme grew from a suspended NIH grant on bat coronavirus risks that included a subaward to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with efforts to restore the funding and shape messaging on Covid’s origin.
- The indictment also describes illegal gratuities, saying a collaborator sent wine and offered pricey meals as Morens discussed writing a commentary favoring a natural-origin view.
- Fauci is not named in the charging document, the alleged co-conspirators are unindicted, and the case follows years of congressional probes as the virus’s origin remains unproven.