Secret back channels, ways to make emails disappear, and dark jokes about kickbacks were explored during the testimony of former Anthony Fauci aide Dr. David Morens, who appeared before a House Select Subcommittee regarding the Coronavirus Pandemic this week. Under intense questioning from both sides of the political aisle, Morens statements raised “serious questions of whether Dr. Fauci took part in a conspiracy amongst the highest levels of NIAID [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] to hide official records regarding the origins of COVID-19,” according to a subcommittee memo penned by Republicans.
But there was plenty of fire coming from Democrats, as well. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) said the quiet part out loud when he addressed Morens, saying: “Do you want to take the Fifth Amendment? I mean, you don’t seem to remember anything.” Then he added: “Sir, I think you’re going to be haunted by your testimony today.”
David Morens Private Work Emails Made Public
A FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request seeking the private emails of Morens and NIH (National Institute of Health) employee Gerald Keusch brought forth 155 pages of subpoenaed communications. These documents are a veritable treasure trove of what went on behind the scenes in the early days of the pandemic.
The emails occurred mostly between Morens and Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, whose project at the Wuhan Institute of Virology funded by NIH is at the epicenter of the controversy surrounding the origins of the deadly virus. The congressional subcommittee alleges that Daszak used money from NIH for gain-of-function research on coronaviruses.
David Morens, who worked under Fauci but apparently was friends with Daszak, came under questioning regarding several emails he had written, including this one:
“Peter, from Tony’s [Fauci] numerous recent comments to me, and from what Francis has been vocal about over the past 5 days, they are trying to protect you, which also protects their own reputations.”
On Feb. 24, 2021, Morens wrote to an undisclosed recipient the following:
“You are right, I need to be more careful. However, as I mentioned once before, I learned from our foia lady here how to make emails disappear after I am foia’s [sic] but before the search starts, so I think we are all safe. Plus i deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to gmail. D.”
Then there’s this one from Morens to co-worker Gerald Keusch under the subject heading “Conspiracies are winning here”:
“I had a long off the record chat with PBS Newshours’s Nick Schifrin this morning. The craziness is receding at least a bit.
“I forgot to clarify in my email yesterday that BOTH my gmail and phone calls are now safe. Text is NOT, as it can be FOIA’d, as can my govt email.
“So you and Peter and others should be able to email me on my gmail only …”
Then to Peter Daszak, Morens wrote:
“Peter have a stiffdrink before you read. But do not worry, this is the new normal and there will be no ‘there’ there …. D”
Another gmail from Morens to Daszak regarding FOIAs read:
“We are all smart enough to know to never have smoking guns, and if we did we wouldn’t put them in emails and if we found them we’d delete them.”
The Washington Examiner reports that EcoHealth Alliance has denied any wrongdoing, saying that “all allegations of misconduct are misunderstandings of the circumstances and that the organization has not engaged in misconduct.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has called for the Department of Justice to investigate the use of private emails for public business purposes.
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