WASHINGTON — Newly disclosed diary entries from Dr. Anthony Fauci show the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director describing private conversations with David Morens, a longtime adviser he later distanced himself from during congressional testimony in June 2024.
Fauci has spent years at the center of fierce political and scientific scrutiny over U.S. funding connected to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, while repeatedly denying that NIAID supported so-called “gain of function” experiments there — research that can make viruses more transmissible or more infectious.
At the time, Fauci also told lawmakers he was unaware that Morens — who was indicted in May of this year on allegations that he hid and deleted federal records — had allegedly used a “secret” back channel tied to Fauci to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests.
The diary entries, made public Saturday by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), paint a more complicated picture. In one note, Fauci wrote that he was “going to arrange for a phone call with David in order to determine more details as to what is going on,” referring to accusations that he approved grants that critics claimed could have contributed to the creation of COVID-19 and a possible later leak from the Wuhan lab.
“It appears that a few of the far right grantees of NIAID are joining with the radical right wing people in the public as well as people in the Congress such as congressman Jim Jordan and Senator Rand Paul to try and connect me with the virus from WUHAN,” Fauci wrote in the entry.
He went on to say that Morens had heard those critics were attempting to “bring me down,” adding that they were alleging he had intentionally collaborated with China and EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak “to create a virus that would be released to the world.”
During his June 3, 2024, appearance before a House subcommittee, however, Fauci told members of Congress: “With respect to his recent testimony before this Subcommittee, I knew nothing of Dr. Morens’s actions regarding Dr. Daszak, EcoHealth, or his emails.”
Fauci further emphasized that Morens’s formal title did not reflect his practical role, telling lawmakers, “It is important to point out for the record that, despite his title, functionally Dr. Morens was not an adviser to me on institute policy or other substantive issues.”
Other messages in the diary, however, highlighted how Fauci was speaking with Morens and Jeffery Taubenberger, who became the acting NIAID head last year under President Trump, about the importance of “systemic vaccination” for the US populace.
Emails that later led to Morens’ indictment — and which were first reported by The Post — revealed in May 2024 that the former NIAID director had “back channel” talks with Morens and allegedly passed on information about EcoHealth Alliance’s $4 million grant that included funding for the WIV.
“There are things I can’t say except Tony is aware and I have learned that there are ongoing efforts within NIH to steer this through with minimal damage to you, Peter, and colleagues, and to NIH and NIAID,” Morens wrote to EcoHealth President Peter Daszak on April 26, 2020, email from a private account.
“[T]here is no worry about FOIAs. I can either send stuff to Tony on his private Gmail [sic], or hand it to him at work or at his house,” Morens also wrote in one April 21, 2021, email. “He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.”
Fauci is scheduled to testify before Paul’s Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.
An attorney for Morens declined to comment. Fauci’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
