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Press Release Published: Oct 13, 2023

Wenstrup Announces Subpoena After NIH Stonewalls Investigation into Likely Federal Records Violation by Dr. Fauci’s Advisor

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WASHINGTON — Today, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) announced a new subpoena for National Institutes of Health (NIH) records related to allegations that a top advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. David Morens, deleted COVID-19 origins documents and used his personal email to thwart the Freedom of Information Act. The subpoena follows months of stonewalling by the NIH and a recent, lackluster production of documents that did not satisfy the Select Subcommittee’s previous requests.

In emails revealed by the Select Subcommittee in June 2023, Dr. David Morens — who currently serves as a Senior Scientific Advisor at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and was an advisor to Dr. Fauci during his tenure at NIAID — admitted to this potential evasion of federal record keeping laws. Further, Dr. Morens threw cold water on the COVID-19 lab leak theory to protect his boss, Dr. Fauci, noting that “Tony doesn’t want his fingerprints on origin stories.”

NIH recently conducted an internal investigation into this potential federal records violation but has refused to share relevant findings with the American people. Today’s subpoena compels the production of any information that the NIH has so far declined to disclose. The Select Subcommittee will continue its effort to bring accountability for any cover-up of COVID-19 origins information by public health authorities.

“Any government official who deletes federal records and purposefully sidesteps accountability to the American people must be thoroughly investigated. We have evidence that Dr. David Morens admitted he would ‘delete anything I don’t want to see in the New York Times’ and ‘try to always communicate on gmail because my NIH email is FOIA’d constantly’ when speaking with others about federal COVID-19 documents. This blatant disregard for the law during the COVID-19 pandemic is extremely concerning. Still, NIH continues to refuse to comply with our investigation and suspiciously defends this potential federal records violation. Today’s subpoena is another step in our pursuit to hold NIH and Dr. Morens accountable,” said Chairman Wenstrup.

Read the Select Subcommittee’s cover letter here and subpoena here.

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