A new trove of emails released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic reveal that top researchers involved in manipulating bat coronaviruses to better-infect humans then conspired to delete email evidence of their communications surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak.
The communications focus on top NIH adviser Dr. David Morens, who solicited help from the NIH’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office to dodge records requests. Morens is currently on administrative leave.
“Evidence in possession of the Select Subcommittee suggests that Dr. Morens, while employed by NIAID and NIH acted as an agent on behalf of a federal grantee, EcoHealth,” the Subcommittee notes. “Morens began assisting Dr. Daszak in how to respond to NIH compliance efforts,” the release continues – referring to EcoHealth Alliance boss Peter Daszak, whose organization was suspended this month from receiving federal funds for three years.
“i learned from our foia lady here how to make emails disappear after I am foia’d but before the search starts,” Morens wrote in a Feb. 24, 2021 email to an unknown recipient, adding “Plus i deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to gmail.”
In another email, Morens claims that “With the help of our IT folks, I went over the whole computer and phone situation… Basically, my gmail is safe from FOIA.”
“Please pass this on to Peter and I ask you both that NOTHING gets sent to me except to my gmail.”