Dr. David Morens, right-hand man for former Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Dr. Anthony Fauci, said he never considered the possibility COVID-19 came from a lab.
Morens testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Thursday and admitted he never looked into the scientific evidence suggesting COVID-19 could have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China, COVID Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup said in a press release. (RELATED: Dr. Fauci Admits Social Distancing Rules ‘Just Appeared’ Out Of Nowhere, COVID Subcommittee Chairman Says)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 8: Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), arrives for a closed-door interview with the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the U.S. Capitol January 8, 2024 in Washington, DC. Fauci is expected to face questioning about the origins of COVID-19, vaccine mandates and how to prevent future pandemics. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Among the key takeaways from Morens’ interview was his admission that “he has not explored any of the scientific evidence behind a potential lab leak or an engineered virus,” Wenstrup’s release says.
Despite that, Morens stood by his belief that COVID-19 originated from an animal and was transmitted to human beings and said he was a close friend of EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak.
EcoHealth Alliance sent taxpayer-funded grants to the Wuhan Institute in Virology to research bat coronaviruses and previously downplayed the potential risks of such research.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Dr. Anthony Fauci and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra arrive for the 45th Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on December 4, 2022. (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The COVID-19 pandemic originated in Wuhan, China and assessments from the FBI and Department of Energy concluded the virus most likely came from a lab. (RELATED: CIA Gave Financial Rewards To Six Analysts Who Covered Up Lab Leak Investigation, Whistleblower Alleges)
Laboratory technicians wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) work on samples to be tested for the Covid-19 coronavirus at the Fire Eye laboratory, a Covid-19 testing facility, in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province early on August 5, 2021. (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Fauci knew gain-of-function research was happening at the Wuhan lab prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and appeared to orchestrate a campaign to discredit the lab leak theory early in the pandemic.
Fauci testified before the select subcommittee and conceded the lab leak theory is not a conspiracy theory, Wenstrup said in a statement.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 12: (L-R) David Rubenstein and Anthony Fauci speak during the 2022 Portrait Of A Nation Gala on November 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for National Portrait Gallery)
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 12: (L-R) Anthony Fauci and David Rubenstein attend the 2022 Portrait Of A Nation Gala on November 12, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for National Portrait Gallery)
“He testified that the lab leak hypothesis — which was often suppressed — was, in fact, not a conspiracy theory. Further, the social distancing recommendations forced on Americans ‘sort of just appeared’ and were likely not based on scientific data,” Wenstrup stated.
Morens is on leave from his position at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) because of private emails released by the COVID subcommittee where he appeared to admit he used gmail instead of his government email to avoid public records requests.
He denied deleting any material related to COVID-19 origins and forwarding records to his gmail to avoid scrutiny.