Hours after the release of several seemingly damning emails revealing his provocative COVID-era communications, a former top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci offered excuses and apologies â but few real answers â during a contentious congressional showdown.
Dr. David Morens, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) senior adviser, appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Wednesday afternoon with few insights about the alarming messages but a host of apologies to lawmakers. The newly released emails detail interactions between Morens and Dr. Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a non-governmental organization that funded coronavirus research in Wuhan, China.
âItâs just something Iâm very ashamed that I canât put the toothpaste back in the tube,â Morens said of the emailsâ language, much of which he attributed to being just âblack humor.â
Republican lawmakers accuse Morens of deleting emails and using his personal email account to skirt Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
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Dr. David Morens emails recently released by House lawmakers investigating.
In one of the newly released emails to Daszak, Morens said he âlearned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear after I am FOIAâd, but before the search starts. So I think we are all safe. Plus I deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to Gmail.â
During Wednesdayâs testimony, Morens said âthat was a jokeâ when House Rep. Richard McCormick, R-Ga., asked what he learned from the âFOIA lady.â
âAre you sure about that? We can subpoena her email too,â McCormick responded. âYou said she gave you advice⊠so you were lying then but telling us the truth now?â
âI wasnât lying, I was making a joke. I said something like, âI have a way to make it go away.â But that was just a euphemism,â Morens responded.

Dr. David Morens emails recently released by House lawmakers investigating.
At one point in the hearing, Morens offered: âI donât know what to say except Iâm sorry.â
In other released emails, Morens appeared to express concerns about what was being sent to his work email and what was sent to his personal email, informing those on the email chain that they did not need to worry and that he would âdelete anything I donât want to see in the New York Times.â It is not clear if any deletions actually occurred.
âAs you know, I try to always communicate on gmail because my NIH email is FOIAâd constantly,â Morens wrote in a September 2021 email, which was sent at the time to many scientists involved in the debate about the origins of the COVID-19 virus. âStuff sent to my gmail gets to my phone ⊠but not my NIH computer.â
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Dr. David Morens emails recently released by House lawmakers investigating.

Dr. David Morens emails recently released by House lawmakers investigating.