Former Fauci adviser pleads guilty in US to conspiring to conceal records

A former adviser to infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to evade public records laws and conceal government documents related to grant research funding and the COVID-19 pandemic.



David Morens, who had worked under Fauci as a senior official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during the pandemic, entered his plea to a conspiracy charge during a hearing in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.



The 78-year-old had been indicted in April on charges related to what prosecutors said was a scheme to thwart public records requests received by the agency beginning in April 2020 related to COVID-19 research grants.



He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on November 12.



"By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so," Timothy Belevetz, his lawyer, said in a statement.



The plea came after Fauci appeared before a Senate panel last month and repeatedly invoked his right against self-incrimination as he accused Republican Senator Rand Paul, a longtime adversary from Kentucky, of pursuing an "unhinged" campaign to see him imprisoned.