House Republicans subpoenaed acting National Institutes of Health Director Lawrence Tabak on Friday in connection to an investigation into David Morens, a top aide to former head of the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic began investigating Morens in June when the committee uncovered emails documenting that Morens utilized his personal email account to conduct NIH business to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests. Morens also wrote to his colleagues in September 2021 that he would “delete anything [he did not] want to see in the New York Times.”
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Fauci, who took the lead on COVID-19 policy under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, retired from the NIH in December 2022.
After the start of the congressional investigation, the National Archives and Records Administration also began looking into Morens’s record-keeping. On Aug. 9, NIH Records Officer Anthony Gibson responded to NARA’s inquiries by saying that the NIH had conducted an internal investigation into Morens. Gibson provided no other information except to state that he had found “no evidence that any federal records within their custody have been prematurely destroyed.”
In the cover letter to Friday’s subpoena, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) said that NIH did not respond to the Subcommittee’s letter dated Sept. 15 and only provided two pages of responsive content to the request for all communication records regarding the NIH’s internal investigation into Morens.
“Any government official who deletes federal records and purposefully sidesteps accountability to the American people must be thoroughly investigated,” Wenstrup said. “This blatant disregard for the law during the COVID-19 pandemic is extremely concerning …. Today’s subpoena is another step in our pursuit to hold NIH and Dr. Morens accountable.”
Morens has been senior adviser to the director of the NIAID since 1998. In addition to his work at Johns Hopkins University, he also worked in various positions in the field of respiratory diseases for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before transitioning to NIH. Currently, Morens’s LinkedIn profile has the hashtag “Open to Work,” a typical indicator on the social media platform that a user is seeking new employment.
Wenstrup explained in the letter accompanying the subpoena that Morens’s official communications and the NIH investigation of his conduct may be crucial to shedding light on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The documents may also provide further insight into “efforts from within the government to suppress or otherwise disregard the possibility COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China,” wrote Wenstrup.
A spokesperson for the Select Subcommittee Democrats told the Washington Examiner that they are also concerned about Morens’s conduct.
“The willful evasion of public transparency requirements by any government official is unacceptable and a clear violation of the public’s trust, which NIH and NIAID have dutifully upheld for decades,” the spokesperson said. “Select Subcommittee Democrats remain optimistic that parties involved will reach reasonable accommodation as the Administration continues its ongoing evaluation of this matter.”
The select subcommittee is requesting in the subpoena all documents and communications of Morens being informed of the congressional investigation, as well as any government or personal emails and cellphone messages in response to the NARA inquiry.
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Chairman of the Oversight Committee James Comer (R-KY) signed the subpoena order on Friday. The subpoena requires Tabak to provide the documents to the committee by Oct. 20 at noon.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has scheduled the hearing for President Joe Biden‘s nominee for NIH director, Monica Bertagnolli, for Wed. Oct. 18.
