A senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has been accused of destroying federal records and obstructing a congressional investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Dr. David Morens, who served as Fauci’s assistant for 20 years, testified before the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Wednesday.
During the hearing, evidence was presented suggesting that Morens had deleted emails related to the investigation and shared confidential information with Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization that has been linked to controversial gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, contends that there are grounds to prosecute Fauci based on Morens’ testimony, according to a report from the Daily Signal. Paul alleges that Morens implicated Fauci in the destruction of records, stating, “He said, ‘Well, I also think Tony has deleted his as well.'”
Morens apologized during the hearing, claiming he was unaware that using personal email for work purposes violated the NIH’s record retention policy. He admitted to deleting emails regularly but questioned the definition of a federal record.
The subcommittee report accuses Morens of undermining NIH operations by sharing confidential information with Daszak. Critics have suggested that the NIH used EcoHealth to fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan, which may have led to the spread of COVID-19.
While evading the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is not a felony, destroying government records is. Paul emphasized that the destruction of records during a federal investigation is particularly concerning and has called for further testimony from government staff involved in the deletions.
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