Fauci distances himself from adviser’s COVID email scandal

Former National Institutes of Health official Anthony Fauci distanced himself from an aide’s email scandal during a Monday morning hearing before Congress.

David Morens, a longtime senior adviser to Fauci, turned over thousands of emails to the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic earlier this year, many of which detailed his efforts to circumvent open records laws.

Morens wrote in private emails turned over to the committee that he deleted information that could be subject to a freedom of information request and also suggested that Fauci was trying to “protect” the scientist Peter Daszak, who has been cut off from federal funding.

While Morens implied that he spoke regularly with Fauci and even that he could walk into his office or deliver materials to his home in order to avoid leaving a paper trail, Fauci told members of Congress those statements are not accurate.