A longtime top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been accused of deleting federal records by Republican lawmakers, has been subpoenaed by the House panel investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. David Morens, recipient of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Friday summonsHe served as a senior adviser to Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1998 until the former NIAID chief’s retirement late last year.
The GOP-led panel alleges that Morens “likely used his personal email to delete COVID origin documents and evade [Freedom of Information Act] laws.”
The subpoena against Morens comes after the National Institutes of Health failed to respond to a request for information issued by the panel last month and then submitted a “mediocre” amount of documentation – “only two pages” – in response to a request. separate from October, according to COVID subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio).
Dr. David Morens served as Fauci’s senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1998 until the former NIAID chief’s retirement late last year. AFP via Getty Images
“This obstruction will not be tolerated,” Wenstrup warned in a letter informing acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak of the subpoena issued to Morens, calling the allegations against the NIAID employee “very troubling.”
“Dr. Morens’ documents are potentially necessary to inform this investigation, including, but not limited to, his knowledge of information regarding the origins of COVID-19,” the letter continues.
Wenstrup maintains that documents potentially deleted from Moren’s personal email account may indicate an effort by government officials to cover up evidence that the virus that led to the coronavirus pandemic came from a Chinese laboratory.
The GOP-led panel alleges that Morens “likely used his personal email to delete COVID origin documents and evade [Freedom of Information Act] laws.” AP
“In addition, these documents may shed light on efforts from within the government to suppress or ignore the possibility that COVID-19 originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, China,” the letter states.
“Therefore, it is necessary for the Select Subcommittee to obtain the documents that Dr. Morens submitted to the NIH, as well as ensure that all of his relevant documents have been secured and preserved.”
Wenstrup also demanded that NIH records officer Anthony Crawley Gibson appear before his panel for an interview later this month.
Morens’ emails suggest that government officials, including Fauci, had no interest in investigating or discussing the possibility that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese laboratory. AP
In June, the COVID Origins Panel released emails from Morens suggesting that government officials, including Fauci, have no interest in investigating or discussing the possibility that COVID-19 originated in a Chinese lab.
In one exchange, Morens told Bloomberg reporter Jason Gale that the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services prohibited her from “speaking[ing] about [COVID] ‘origins’ on the file,” but that he had recently been given freedom to discuss the matter, as long as he did not mention his boss.
“Tony doesn’t want his fingerprints on the origin stories,” Morens said in the July 29, 2021, email.
In another email, Morens told colleagues that he would “always communicate via Gmail because my NIH email is constantly subject to FOIA” and that he would “delete anything I didn’t want to see in the New York Times.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn