{"id":1961107,"date":"2023-06-30T03:33:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T07:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/records-suggest-top-nih-official-squashed-lab-leak-theory-for-fauci-used-personal-email-to-hide-it\/"},"modified":"2023-06-30T03:34:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T07:34:32","slug":"records-suggest-top-nih-official-squashed-lab-leak-theory-for-fauci-used-personal-email-to-hide-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/records-suggest-top-nih-official-squashed-lab-leak-theory-for-fauci-used-personal-email-to-hide-it\/","title":{"rendered":"NIH Official Allegedly Suppressed Lab-Leak Theory for Fauci, Concealed Evidence via Personal Email"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frecords-suggest-top-nih-official-squashed-lab-leak-theory-for-fauci-used-personal-email-to-hide-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1961107&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<div>\n<figure>\n    <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Senior Official Downplayed Covid Lab-Leak Theory, Records Show<\/h2>\n<p>Recently obtained records reveal that a senior official with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) downplayed the Covid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-said-he-would-press-china-on-the-origins-of-covid-he-hasnt\/\" title=\"Biden Said He Would Press China on the Origins of COVID. He Hasn\u2019t.\">lab-leak theory<\/a> at the request of Anthony Fauci.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, the chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/2023.06.29-BRW-Letter-to-DM-Re.-Origins_Redacted_Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> to Dr. David Morens, the NIAID director\u2019s senior scientific advisor, demanding all documents and communications related to the Covid origins investigation and narrative.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Documents in possession of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic&#8230; suggest that you may have used your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/historic-6-3-supreme-court-decision-narrows-anti-hacking-law-to-avoid-criminalizing-commonplace-computer-activity\/\" title=\"Historic 6-3 Supreme Court Decision Narrows Anti-Hacking Law To Avoid Criminalizing \u2018Commonplace Computer Activity\u2019\">personal e-mail<\/a> to avoid transparency and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/records-suggest-top-nih-official-squashed-lab-leak-theory-for-fauci-used-personal-email-to-hide-it\/\" title=\"NIH Official Allegedly Suppressed Lab-Leak Theory for Fauci, Concealed Evidence via Personal Email\">potentially intentionally deleted federal records<\/a>, and acted in your official capacity to disparage your fellow scientists, including by encouraging litigation against them,&#8221; Wenstrup wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Included in Wenstrup\u2019s letter is an email suggesting that Fauci instructed Morens to downplay the lab-leak theory in media interviews. According to the records, Morens wrote: &#8220;But today, to my total surprise, my boss Tony [Fauci] actually ASKED me to speak to the National Geographic on the record about origins. I interpret this to mean that our government is lightening up but that Tony doesn\u2019t want his fingerprints on origin stories.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>National Geographic published an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.co.uk\/science-and-technology\/2021\/09\/why-its-so-tricky-to-trace-the-origin-of-covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">article<\/a> featuring Morens\u2019 remarks nearly two months later, in which he claimed, &#8220;There is a progenitor virus out there somewhere, and we should look for it,&#8221; but that &#8220;at some point, it crosses over from doing due diligence to wasting time and being crazy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We may have seen that point already,&#8221; Morens added.<\/p>\n<p>Emails included in Wenstrup\u2019s letter also show Morens allegedly evading open record requests by using a private email address to correspond with colleagues. In a Sept. 9, 2021, email, Morens reportedly wrote: &#8220;I try to always communicate over gmail because my NIH email is FOIA\u2019d constantly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yesterday my gmail was hacked, probably by these [gain-of-function] -ssholes, and until IT can get it fixed I may have to occasionally email from my NIH account,&#8221; Morens wrote. &#8220;Don\u2019t worry, just send to any of my addresses and I will delete anything I don\u2019t want to see in the New York Times.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As Helen Raleigh previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/02\/28\/fauci-and-ecohealths-peter-daszak-silenced-lab-leak-conspiracy-theory-congress-shouldnt-let-them-forget-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> at The Federalist, EcoHealth Alliance is a nongovernmental organization that received grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses. When concerns arose about a Wuhan lab leak, EcoHealth&#8217;s president, Peter Daszak, quickly dismissed the hypothesis as a &#8220;conspiracy theory.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, however, the Energy Department <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/02\/28\/the-only-thing-conspiratorial-about-the-covid-lab-leak-theory-was-medias-coordinated-dismissal-of-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sent<\/a> a memo declaring &#8220;the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Morens also apparently used his official position to smear scientists he disagreed with and even encouraged legal action against them. In a Sept. 9, 2021, email exchange, Morens referred to two doctors as &#8220;harmful demagogues&#8221; and &#8220;NOT experts.&#8221; In another email, he told Daszak, &#8220;not rule out suing these -ssholes for slander.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Wenstrup notes that while the alleged email was sent from Morens\u2019 personal account, it included the acronyms for the government agencies and offices he worked for in his email signature.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to communication records, the House subcommittee is also requesting Morens appear for an in-person interview on Aug. 2.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3>About the Author<\/h3>\n<p>Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1\">state content writer<\/a> for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter <strong>@ShawnFleetwood<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Republicans obtained records showing a NIAID official downplayed the lab-leak theory due to Fauci&#8217;s influence. Rep. Wenstrup, chair of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, sent a letter to Dr. Morens regarding this matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":1961108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1961107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1961107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1961107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1961108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1961107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1961107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1961107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}