The U.S. Justice Department said a federal grand jury has indicted Dr. David M. Morens, a former senior adviser in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Office of the Director who worked closely with then-NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, accusing Morens of conspiring to evade federal recordkeeping and public-transparency requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Justice Department announced Monday, April 28, 2026, that David M. Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland, was indicted on charges of conspiracy against the United States; destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting.
According to federal prosecutors, Morens served as a senior adviser in NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022 and, as part of his role, handled matters that constituted federal records and were required to be created, maintained and exchanged on government systems. Fauci led NIAID from 1984 until his retirement in 2022.
The indictment focuses on Morens’s alleged use of non-government communications to avoid record-retention and disclosure requirements, including Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) searches. In one email cited by congressional investigators and later referenced in reporting, Morens wrote in February 2021 that he had learned “how to make emails disappear” after he was “foia’d,” and suggested that he deleted messages after forwarding them to a personal account.
Prosecutors allege that the conduct was aimed at evading federal recordkeeping and transparency rules, not at proving or disproving any specific theory about the origins of COVID-19. The Justice Department’s announcement did not allege that Morens manipulated scientific data, directed grant decisions as kickbacks, or orchestrated a broader effort to suppress particular COVID-19 origin theories.
If convicted, Morens faces a maximum of five years in prison on the conspiracy count, up to 20 years per count for destruction/alteration/falsification of records in a federal investigation, and up to three years per count for concealment/removal/mutilation of records.
The FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Federal prosecutors in the District of Maryland are handling the prosecution, the Justice Department said.
