OPINION:
David Morens, the top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, then the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, received two bottles of wine delivered to his home in Maryland in June 2020 from Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance, according to an explosive Justice Department indictment unveiled this week.
In 2014, the company was awarded a $7.5 million federal grant to conduct coronavirus research, which it subcontracted to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. In 2020, EcoHealth Alliance was awaiting another $7 million in National Institutes of Health grants.
At the time, Mr. Daszak was most likely concerned that his company’s federal funding would be threatened because of the global outbreak of COVID-19, so he worked his sources inside the federal government to help muddy the outbreak’s origin, of which Mr. Morens happily obliged, for a kickback, of course.
The wine included the following message: “This is the first of what I hope will be a continued series of expressions of gratitude for your advice, support and behind-the-scenes shenanigans in my battle against your bosses boss, his boss, and the ultimate boss on the Hill,” Mr. Daszak wrote. “It takes courage and commitment to do what you’ve done, given your job and the vindictive nature of the Administration. I am eternally grateful for that, and hope I’ll be able to return the favor one day. In the meantime … Cheers!”
Mr. Morens, in acknowledging the gift, wrote back: “Now I’m actually going to have to do something to deserve it. Let me think.” He then identified acts he had done on behalf of EcoHealth Alliance and Mr. Daszak, which included writing a “scientific commentary that outlines the importance” of Mr. Daszak’s work, but without mentioning him by name or the grant.
Mr. Dazak then promised more riches.
“Consider this my phase II gift. Phase III might actually involve a meal — the Michelin starred restaurants are opening in Paris — DC and New York will do eventually!” he wrote.
Mr. Morens worked to minimize the exposure of EcoHealth and Mr. Daszak to Congress, the Trump administration and the world by moving their communications from government email accounts to private Gmail accounts so they couldn’t be revealed under Freedom of Information Act requests. He then deleted past emails, which could implicate the group if FOIA’d. He worked to monitor incoming FOIA requests and delete evidence before official requests could be made.
In July, Mr. Morens further went to work by authoring a piece published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, advocating that COVID-19 emerged naturally and was not manufactured in a lab. It was widely cited by Dr. Fauci at the time, disputing the lab-leak narrative.
A month later, after discovering EcoHealth had been awarded the $7.5 million coronavirus NIH grant, Mr. Morens wrote Mr. Daszak from his NIH email account, “Ahem … do I get a kickback???? Too much fooking money! DO you deserve it all? Let’s discuss.”
Mr. Daszak replied in an email to Mr. Morens’ personal account, “of course there’s a kick back. It starts with five more years of FOIA requests. … I just hope it doesn’t culminate in 5 years in Federal jail.”
In the indictment, Mr. Daszak’s name was revealed only as CO-CONSPIRATOR 1; however, it also states that CO-CONSPIRATOR 1 was the only American to travel to China in January 2021 as part of a World Health Organization mission to investigate the origins of COVID-19. Mr. Daszak was that man. It also doesn’t specifically name EcoHealth Alliance, citing it as COMPANY #1. It does, however, state that CO-CONSPIRATOR 1 served as its president and chief executive officer from 2009 to 2025. Mr. Daszak was that man.
The good news is that more indictments are likely to come. The indictment also mentioned a CO-CONSPIRATOR 2. Sen. Rand Paul claims Dr. Fauci was in on the purported scheme, alleging he lied under oath to Congress, destroyed federal records and advised his team to do the same.
As the justice system plays out, let’s hope the entire saga leads to Mr. Daszak’s worried prediction six years ago: that all the players in this alleged cover-up lead to (at least) five years in federal prison.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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