Dr. Morens recently acknowledged to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that he deleted emails after unearthed messages showed him
bragging about learning how to avoid the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). He also communicated frequently with
Peter Daszak, head of EcoHealth Alliance, which funneled NIAID grant money to a lab in China.
“I knew nothing of Dr. Morens’s actions regarding Dr. Daszak, EcoHealth, or his emails,” Dr. Fauci said. “It is important to point out for the record that, despite his title, and even though he was helpful to me in writing scientific papers, Dr. Morens was not an adviser to me on institute policy or other substantive issues.”
Dr. Fauci also said that Dr. Morens didn’t take part in regular meetings of NIAID leadership or of his immediate staff before agreeing that Dr. Morens violated federal rules by editing an EcoHealth statement, reaching out to the EcoHealth board on behalf of Mr. Daszak, and using personal email for official business.
Dr. Morens often spoke of talking with Dr. Fauci, including writing after the government paused the primary EcoHealth grant: “Peter, from Tony’s numerous recent comments to me, they are trying to protect you.”
“I never spoke about protecting him,” Dr. Fauci said. “I don’t know where he got that, but that’s not true.”
In another missive, Dr. Morens wrote: “I forgot to say there is no worry about FOIAs. I can either send stuff to Tony on his private gmail, or hand it to him at work or at his house. He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.”
Dr. Fauci said he might have spoken to Dr. Morens over personal email addresses about chapters they write for medical books.