Dr. David Morens, a scientist with the U.S. government’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, admitted in an email obtained by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) that he has actively sought to circumvent federal record keeping laws in an effort to obstruct Congressional document and communications requests. Employees at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an Arlington (ASTMH), Virginia-based non-profit, were directed by Dr. Morens to direct all sensitive communications to his private gmail account instead of using his official government email account.
The instruction to ASTMH staff by Dr. Morens was very clearly meant as a measure to ensure any new communication would be difficult for Members of Congress to obtain in the course of their ongoing COVID-19 investigation. During the pandemic, Dr. David Morens served as an aide and senior advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci. The government scientist laments in his email that “… NIH correspondence between me and others, including my boss [Dr. Anthony Fauci], concerning COVID-19 origins, had previously been FOIA’d and published in the press.”
Even more concerning is the admission by Dr. Morens that he has “retained very few emails or documents on these matters”, suggesting that said documents and correspondence may have been destroyed. According to the Department of Justice the intentional destruction of government documents carries a $2,000 fine and up to 3 years in prison.
“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 said in a statement. Dr. Morens has been asked to appear before Sen. Johnson’s Subcommittee staff for an interview.
show lessI obtained a “confidential” email from @NIAIDNews official Dr. David Morens that he sent from his Gmail account detailing his efforts to evade my oversight of COVID-19 origins.
The email’s text is below. See my letters to @SecBecerra and @OIGatHHS about Dr. Morens’ obstruction… pic.twitter.com/hOPmGKyrBK
— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) November 17, 2023
