Senator Ron Johnson has urged the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services, Christi Grimm, to initiate an inquiry regarding allegations that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concealed and mishandled records related to COVID-19 dating back to 2014.
Earlier this year, on June 29, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic unveiled that Dr. David Morens, a senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), had attempted to circumvent Freedom of Information Act requests by using a private email address, The New York Post reports.
In one of the uncovered emails from September 29, 2021, Dr. Morens mentioned, “I would always try to communicate over gmail [sic] because my NIH email is FOIA’d constantly,” further advising colleagues to send emails “to any of my addresses and I will delete anything I don’t want to see in the New York Times.”
Additionally, he expressed concerns that his “gmail [sic] was hacked, probably by these GoF [gain-of-function] ass—es” and had consulted government IT professionals regarding the breach of his personal email.
Shedding light on the matter, Johnson stated, “These statements reveal an attempt to limit public access to certain communications directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially in violation of federal record keeping requirements.”
He further raised concerns, stating, “If official agency IT services were used to assist Dr. Morens’ use of private email for official purposes, it raises questions about whether agency resources are being used appropriately and whether NIAID leadership is aware of or accepts these practices.”
Senator Johnson highlighted that the National Archives and Records Administration had also taken note of Dr. Morens’ emails, formally requesting NIH on July 10 to examine the emails and submit their findings within a month.
Furthermore, an inside source from the NIH alerted Republican members of the House Oversight Committee last November, stating he was instructed to “destroy any notes” pertaining to federal grants extended to the Wuhan Institute of Virology from 2014.
A report from the Government Accountability Office in June revealed that between 2014 and 2021, the NIH and the US Agency for International Development granted $1,413,720 in sub-grants to the said institute.
This included funds for gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.
Last month, Brad Wenstrup, the Chairman of the COVID subcommittee, disclosed over 8,000 pages of internal communications, indicating attempts by government scientists to minimize the lab-leak theory and steer clear of holding China responsible for the pandemic, The Post notes.
Two experts subsequently appeared before Congress, detailing a March 2020 Nature Medicine article that downplayed the “lab leak theory,” claiming they wrote it after being approached by Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Highlighting a potential discrepancy, in a February 1, 2020, email, Dr. Fauci acknowledged, “scientists in Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments to determine that molecular mechanisms associated with bat viruses adapting to human infection.”
However, in later testimony to Congress, he denied the statement.
Sen. Rand Paul has since approached the Justice Department and US Attorney Matthew Graves of Washington, DC, suggesting potential charges against Fauci for allegedly providing false testimonies to Congress.
