“The Department of Justice has indicted a former senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci for allegedly destroying and concealing records from investigations into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“David Morens, 78, has been charged with one count of conspiracy against the United States; two counts of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; and two counts of concealment, removal, or mutilation of records.”

“The ex-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) official faces up to 51 years in federal prison if convicted of all charges.”

“The indictment, unsealed Monday in Maryland federal court, also notes two unnamed co-conspirators who “concealed, removed, destroyed and caused the concealment, and removal of federal records to evade FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] and FRA [Federal Records Act].””

“Information in the indictment indicates the co-conspirators are Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of Manhattan-based non-profit EcoHealth Alliance, and Dr. Gerald Keusch, an associate director of Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory Institute and National Institutes of Health (NIH) grantee.”

“Those included grants totaling $4 million and $7.5 million awarded to the nonprofit in 2014 and 2020, respectively, some of which eventually funded gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at WIV.”

“Daszak then provided “illegal gratuities” — two bottles of “The Prisoner Red Napa Valley Wine” — to Morens’ home in Maryland in June 2020”