Fauci Adviser Grilled for Allegedly Deleting Evidence on COVID-19 Pandemic Origins
- May 23, 2024 07:00pm
- 144
Dr. David Morens, a former top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, is facing scrutiny for allegedly deleting emails and using his personal account to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The allegations came to light after the release of several damning emails that revealed his concerning communications during the pandemic era.
Hours after the release of several seemingly damning emails revealing his provocative COVID-era communications, a former top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci offered excuses and apologies — but few real answers — during a contentious congressional showdown.
Dr. David Morens, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) senior adviser, appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Wednesday afternoon with few insights about the alarming messages but a host of apologies to lawmakers. The newly released emails detail interactions between Morens and Dr. Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a non-governmental organization that funded coronavirus research in Wuhan, China.
Republican lawmakers accuse Morens of deleting emails and using his personal email account to skirt Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
In one of the newly released emails to Daszak, Morens said he "learned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear after I am FOIA’d, 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."
During Wednesday's testimony, Morens said "that was a joke" when House Rep. Richard McCormick, R-Ga., asked what he learned from the "FOIA lady."
"Are you sure about that? We can subpoena her email too," McCormick responded. "You said she gave you advice… so you were lying then but telling us the truth now?"
"I wasn't lying, I was making a joke. I said something like, ‘I have a way to make it go away.’ But that was just a euphemism," Morens responded.
Morens also wrote from his personal email account to Daszak, saying, "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 would delete them."
Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., asked Morens if he "deleted any records" or had conversations with Fauci regarding deletions.
"Not to my knowledge," Morens said. "But again, we're at the issue of defining what's a federal record? I deleted a lot of emails. I do it every day."
At one point in the hearing, Morens offered: "I don't know what to say except I'm sorry."
In other released emails, Morens appeared to express concerns about what was being sent to his work email and what was sent to his personal email, informing those on the email chain that they did not need to worry and that he would "delete anything I don’t want to see in the New York Times." It is not clear if any deletions actually occurred.
"As you know, I try to always communicate on gmail because my NIH email is FOIA’d constantly," Morens wrote in a September 2021 email, which was sent at the time to many scientists involved in the debate about the origins of the COVID-19 virus. "Stuff sent to my gmail gets to my phone … but not my NIH computer."
Fox News' Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
Related articles
-
US Troops Injured in Suspected Rocket Attack in Iraq: Kurds Fear Abandonment
US troops have been injured in a suspected rocket attack on an airbase in Iraq, prompting concerns about possible escalation with Iran. Meanwhile,...
- 06 Oct 2024
-
Kamala Harris's Media Strategy: Avoiding Press Conferences and Embracing Social Media
Vice President Kamala Harris has opted for a social media-centric campaign strategy, steering clear of official press conferences while engaging in...
- 06 Oct 2024
-
Bruce Springsteen's Enduring Support for Democratic Candidates
Music icon Bruce Springsteen has been a vocal supporter of Democratic candidates for years, and his recent endorsements of Vice President Kamala...
- 06 Oct 2024
-
Kamala Harris Criticized for Lack of Policy Details in 'Call Her Daddy' Interview
## Kamala Harris Criticized for Lack of Policy Details in 'Call Her Daddy' InterviewVice President Kamala Harris's recent interview on the "Call Her...
- 06 Oct 2024
-
Latinos: Shifting to Trump Due to Internalized Racism, Says Journalist
Journalist Paola Ramos, in her new book "Defectors," argues that internalized racism is a significant factor in the shift of Latino voters toward...
- 06 Oct 2024
-
Trump Faces Assassination Threats, Blames Biden-Harris Rhetoric
Former President Donald Trump has admitted to feeling unsafe on the campaign trail following two assassination attempts, with the second narrowly...
- 06 Oct 2024
Leave a comment
Your comment is awaiting moderation. We save your draft here
0 Comments
Chưa có bình luận nào