The U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has issued a subpoena to a former advisor of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. David Morens.
The subpoena follows the release of emails revealing that Morens used a personal email for communications to avoid being “FOIA’d constantly.”
“I try to always communicate on gmail because my NIH email is FOIA’d constantly,” Morens wrote in a 2021 email.
“Don’t worry, just send to any of my addresses and I will delete anything I don’t want to see in the New York Times,” he added.
In the announcement of the subpoena, committee chairman Bran Wenstrup (R-OH) said, “Dr. David Morens purposefully evaded FOIA laws to give his ‘best-friend’ EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak non-public, internal information that had the potential to undermine the operations of the United States government. This is not only highly concerning, but it is also likely illegal. Dr. Morens must be held accountable for any abuse of power and his blatant disregard for the law.”
“The subpoena for Dr. Morens’s personal email communication will ensure that the truth about this federal records violation is brought to light. Unfortunately, this pattern of abusing federal power appears to stretch beyond Dr. Morens, Dr. Daszak, or NIH. This subpoena is an important effort to ensure that federal health officials never again feel empowered to duck accountability to the American people and willfully undermine our elected government.”
Morens is to appear before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on April 30, according to the subpoena.
Morens also shared internal information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak, who “enthusiastically agreed to communicate with Dr. Morens via unofficial channels,” the House committee wrote on X.
