David Morens, a former advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci and senior official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has pleaded guilty to conspiring to evade records requests involving COVID-19 research grants. The announcement was made by FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday.

Patel stated, “After an FBI investigation with our Department of Justice partners, Dr. Fauci’s associate, David Morens, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a scheme designed to avoid FOIA requests and the Federal Records Act pertaining to COVID-19 research grants.”

The FBI discovered that Morens, along with Co-Conspirator 1, Co-Conspirator 2, and others, conspired during the COVID-19 pandemic to defraud the United States. This followed the National Institutes of Health’s termination of Co-Conspirator 1’s grant.

“NIH terminated the grant, ‘Understanding the Risk of Bat coronavirus Emergence,’ based on allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China,” Patel detailed. “Morens and his co-conspirators then deliberately hid their communications from public view by using Morens’s personal Gmail account rather than his official NIH email account.”

Morens faced indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in April, charged with conspiracy, destruction, and concealment of federal records.

It was revealed through the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic that Morens instructed colleagues to bypass his official NIAID email and communicate via his private email account.

“This is sent from my gmail account. Please send all replies here to gmail… There are things I can’t say except [Senior NIAID official 1] is informed, and ongoing efforts within NIH will navigate this with minimal damage,” Morens communicated to a colleague, as per emails released by the committee.

During his testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Morens was questioned about deleting emails pertinent to COVID-19.

In other communications, Morens relayed how a Fauci aide advised him to delete emails. He informed EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak about learning methods to make emails disappear before FOIA requests initiate.

“I learned from your FOIA lady here now how to make emails disappear when I am FOIA-ed before the search begins, so I think we are all covered. Plus, I deleted most of these earlier emails after transferring them to Gmail,” he wrote.

The EcoHealth Alliance, led by Daszak, lost eligibility for federal grant funding in 2025 for allegedly not disclosing the grant’s involvement in gain-of-function research on viruses.

Morens faces potential sentencing on November 12, with a possibility of up to five years in prison.

“By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens acknowledges his actions and will continue to do so,” Morens’ attorney Timothy Belevetz articulated in a statement.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Morens’ attorney, the DOJ, and the NIAID for further comments.