A senior scientific advisor at Dr. Fauci’s National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. David Morens, reportedly led an effort to circumvent federal law and avoid producing records to Congress regarding Covid origins.
That’s according to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), the lead Republican on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He has sent letters about the controversy to HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra and HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm.
In the letters, Johnson included the text of Dr. Morens’ June 17, 2021 email that he sent from his Gmail account to ten people he referred to as his American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (ASTMH) “colleagues.”
The email had the subject line, “CONFIDENTIAL WITHIN OUR SMALL GROUP, PLEASE.” Dr. Morens attached a June 11, 2021 letter Johnson and four other senators had sent to Sec. Becerra and then-National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins requesting documents related to the origins of Covid-19.
Dr. Morens, who at the time reported to Dr. Anthony Fauci, summarized the request, and then informed his colleagues he has retained “very few” records on “these matters” and reiterated his preference that “correspondence on sensitive issues be sent to [him] at [his] gmail [sic] address[.]”
It appears that Dr. Morens may have intentionally deleted or destroyed records relating to the origins of Covid-19 given his admission that he has ‘retained very few emails or documents on these matters.’ Further, Dr. Morens’ stated preference to receive correspondence on ‘sensitive issues’ through Gmail shows an apparent evasion of federal record keeping requirements and a complete disregard for transparency. Dr. Morens’ apparent actions may have directly obstructed my oversight efforts. . . . [I]n light of the information I recently obtained regarding Dr. Morens’ efforts to hinder HHS’s response to my June 11, 2021 letter, I am deeply concerned that HHS officials may have intentionally removed or destroyed responsive records on the origins of Covid-19 or on other aspects of the pandemic.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc)
Johnson requested Morens appear before his subcommittee staff for an interview and also called on Becerra to immediately provide complete responses to his June 11, 2021 letter and a March 31, 2023 follow-up letter by December 6, 2023.
Additionally, Johnson reiterated his August 14, 2023 request to HHS Inspector General Grimm to investigate Morens’ apparent violations of federal record keeping requirements and potential obstruction of congressional requests.
The full letter to HHS can be found here and the letter to the Office of the Inspector General can be found here.
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