New Emails Show How Anthony Fauci And NIH Worked To Mislead The Public

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthony Fauci and other top public health officials have treated any skepticism, criticism or questioning of their methods with disdain and contempt.

Fauci infamously labeled himself as the One True Keeper of The Science™; saying that any attacks on him were actually an attack on The Holy Concept of Science at large. Ignoring that science generally is an ever-evolving set of ideas, hypotheses and testing, not immutable fact, it was an inherently absurd, egomaniacal statement. 

Made even more absurd by the fact that Fauci was proven wrong on nearly every important COVID question. Masks, vaccine efficacy, school closures…the list of failures and misinformation is endless.

One of his most important and inexcusable missteps though, came from the lab leak discussion. And it's not hard to see why. Fauci, as evidenced by previously released emails, likely realized over a few days in early-2020 that his organization could have been partially responsible for funding gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology through grant money given to the EcoHealth Alliance, run by Dr. Peter Daszak.

If Fauci was wrong about masks and school closures, as he, of course, was, he could ignore complaints or criticisms by waving it off as "what we knew at the time." As inaccurate as that might be. But a lab leak as a result of NIH-funded research could be a direct connection that discredited him, his legacy, and the other "experts" that work with him. An intolerable outcome. 

And new emails released by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Wednesday yet again pull back the curtain on how much work Fauci and his top advisers were doing to avoid scrutiny.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks about Covid during the White House press briefing on November 22, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Anthony Fauci's Top Advisor Worked With EcoHealth To Avoid Transparency

The Subcommittee released a memo Wednesday with pages of emails pulled from Dr. David Morens, Fauci's top advisor for the past two decades at NIAID.

There are any number of fascinating insights to be gleaned from the memo, several of which are damning for Fauci, Morens and NIH.

In one April 2021 email, Morens told Daszak that he could avoid FOIA requests and transparency by sending emails to Fauci at his private gmail address. And to remove any doubt as to why he would do such a thing, Morens helpfully explained that Fauci had experience in using private communication to avoid scrutiny on troublesome issues.

"PS, i forgot to say there is no worry about FOIAs," Morens wrote. "I can either send stuff to Tony on his private mail, or hand it to him at work or at his house. He is too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble."

Now what in the world would Fauci be receiving that could cause trouble?! And was this common practice, for Fauci to receive private communication that he could hide from the public later on? We may never know the answer to the first question, but thanks to Morens' emails, we know the answer to the second. And turns out, it sure was common.

In another email from May 2021, Morens again emailed outsiders, including Daszak to discuss his efforts to downplay lab leak discussions. And in doing so, revealed that Fauci used "secret" methods of communicating whenever he wanted.

"I suggested Arthur try to interview Tony directly," Morens said in the email, "and connected him to our ‘secret’ back channel. He emailed Tony a few hours ago."

Morens Emails Shows Their Actual Priorities

Other emails show how concerned Fauci actually was about lab leak discussions pointing back to him, as well as the frequency with which he used private email addresses to avoid FOIA. Another email from April 22, 2021 showed that Morens, Fauci and NIH had no interest in learning the truth, only in what scrutiny could or would mean for their profession.

"If i had to bet, I would guess that beneath Tony's macho I-am-not-worried reaction he really is concerned," Morens said. "And whatever the case he should be very concerend about what happened to Peter, to our research portfolio in an extremely important area, and to scientific independence."

Morens then continued to say, again, that they used Fauci's gmail to communicate. 

No concern for whether or not research they'd funded could have led to the COVID-19 pandemic, no concern for transparency, honesty, or learning the truth. No, their only concern revolved around protecting themselves and their allies from consequences. Whether that be heightened scrutiny of their research, or to "scientific independence." 

In short, Morens and likely Fauci, realized that the focus on EcoHealth could mean that they wouldn't be granted leave to do whatever they wanted. And that was an unacceptable outcome.

More Examples Of NIH Misdeeds

Throughout the memo, Morens tells people, especially Peter Daszak, to use his personal mail address, as well as expressing his desire to get a personal cell phone he can use for communications.

Specifically, he tells respondents to only email his gmail to avoid FOIA requests, including one particularly bad note in February 2021.

"I learned from our foia lady here how to make emails disappear after i am foia'd but before the search starts, so i think we are all safe," Morens explained. "Plus i deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to gmail."

Fauci's top advisor was taught by NIH's FOIA office how to avoid requests for information that he didn't want getting out. Even into November, he emailed again about using their IT office to ensure that his gmail was safe from FOIA requests. And forcefully explained that "NOTHING [sic]" be sent to him except through gmail.

He gave Peter Daszak private information about internal deliberations to make sure his responses could be crafted correctly. Including sending him the "new NIAID implementation plan" in April 2020 as debate around COVID origins was heating up.

Morens forwarded FOIA requests to Daszak, who then referred to Rand Paul and other investigators as "nut-jobs," showing contempt for anyone questioning EcoHealth and their actions. 

HHS even stepped in, saying in one May 2021 email that NIH should "not release anything having to do with EcoHealth Alliance/WIV." Sounds about right. Another particularly damning sequence involved Morens describing efforts taken by top "experts" to avoid anything that could make them look bad. "We are all smart enough to know to never have smoking guns, Morens said, "and if we did we wouldn't put them in emails and if we found them, we'd delete them." 

No concern for the truth or transparency, just protecting themselves. As if there were any doubt, one October 2021 email from Morens' gmail to Daszak confirmed it:

"Peter, from Tony's numerous recent comments to me, and from what Francis has been vocal about over the past 5 days, they are trying to protect you, which also protects their own reputations." 

Well that's just about as bad as it gets. 

Fauci Misled The Public Repeatedly

Fauci at the start of the pandemic, directed the conversation away from the lab leak possibility, including organizing the release of a paper that claimed a lab leak scenario wasn't plausible. When the previous release of his emails revealed that he'd actually been told privately that a lab leak was a distinct possibility, Fauci defended his lie of omission by lying again. In fact, he told ABC in 2021, that "neither I nor Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, lied or misled about what we've done."

In sworn testimony in 2022, Fauci also said he had essentially no idea who Daszak was. "I dont' even remember meeting him, but I do know that someone showed me a picture at a meeting where somebody said, here, take a picture with him," Fauci said, referring to Daszak. "But that is not unusual, when you go to a scientific meeting, you run into hundreds of people. And I believe that this Dr. Daszak is one of the people that I almost – well I did run into him because I believe I've seen a photograph of he and I together at a meeting."

Don't know the guy, don't remember meeting him, barely even heard of him. That's what Facui sounds like with regards to Daszak, doesn't it?  Yet here's what Morens said to Daszak from his private gmail account in April 2020, as the lab leak debate started in earnest.

"There are things I can't say except Tony is aware and I have learned that there are ongoing efforts within NIH to steer through this with minimal damage to you, Peter, and colleagues, and to nih and niaid." 

Morens continued, "I imagine this will be handled at the level of Francis and Tony, within nih, and I don't expect to be in the loop….Whatever is going on, I very much doubt that Tony or any of our niaid leadership would willfully throw you under the bus…Indeed, I expect we would do everything possible to protect you. I have reason to believe that there are already efforts going on to protect you."

Pretty much the exact opposite of his testimony, isn't it?

In all his interviews with Sen. Rand Paul, Fauci never mentioned these "efforts" to protect Peter Daszak, NIAID or NIH from scrutiny, did he? Neither did Francis Collins, who ran NIH. They hid everything they could, obstructed outside investigation in every possible way, and used private communication to avoid scrutiny.

While there's no "smoking gun" tying them directly to knowledge of the lab leak, as Morens says, they're too smart to have smoking guns lying around in emails. And given their dishonesty, cover-up efforts, and efforts to hide information and conversations, they had no intention of revealing a smoking gun, even if they had it. It's inexcusable, and a permanent stain on Fauci's legacy, as well as the scientific community at large.

They don't care about the truth, they care about themselves.