Senator Ron Johnson demanded an interview with a key health official, saying he was “deeply concerned” government officials may have “destroyed responsive records” about the origins of COVID-19.
Johnson (R-Wis.) demanded the Department of Health and Human Services that Dr. David Morens, former assistant to Dr. Anthony Fauci, prepared for an interview with his staff, and urged the HHS watchdog to take the matter seriously.
“I am deeply concerned that HHS officials may intentionally release or destroy responsive records regarding the origins of COVID-19 or other aspects of the outbreak,” Johnson, 68, wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra Wednesday obtained by The Post. .
Underlying Johnson’s concerns is a June 17, 2021 email, which Morens, a 25-year veteran of the National Institutes of Health, sent to his colleagues about a request days earlier by Johnson for a tranche of documents on the NIH’s handling of respiratory COVID-19 disease.
The Wisconsin Republican team has been scrutinizing HHS’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shutterstock
“I have tried to ensure that I do not keep any documents that may lead to other members [American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene] to be approached for the production of the same document,” Morens wrote.
“In other words, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about because there’s no ‘there’ there.”
Morens also emphasized his desire to receive correspondence on his personal Gmail address. The email had the subject line, “CONFIDENTIAL IN OUR SMALL GROUP, PLEASE.”
Citing the email, Johnson concluded that “Morens may have intentionally deleted or destroyed records” and “directly impeded my surveillance efforts.”
Morens’ record practices have drawn attention from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which has since subpoenaed him.
David Morens suggested he use a personal email account to avoid Freedom of Information Act requests.NIAID
Johnson is demanding an interview with Morens by Dec. 6 and also wants all text messages from Morens’ HHS-issued cell phone from June 1, 2019, released, as well as emails from his Gmail account.
He also demanded “a detailed explanation of how HHS will hold Dr. Morens accountable” and renewed his request for HHS documents related to the origins of COVID-19.
Johnson made the document requests in June 2021 and March 2023.
All of Johnson’s demands outlined Wednesday come with a Dec. 6 deadline for HHS to comply.
Back in August, Johnson called in HHS monitor Christi Grimm to investigate Morens and the document situation.
Ron Johnson outlines his demands to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Coinciding with Wednesday’s letter to Becerra, Johnson also wrote a letter to Grimm the same day renewing his call for a thorough investigation into the matter.
“I hope you and your office take this seriously,” he wrote.
Morens worked as Fauci’s senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1998 until last year when Fauci retired.
In one email flagged by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Morens explained to colleagues that he would “always communicate on Gmail because my NIH email is always FOIA” and that he would “delete anything I don’t want see in the New York Times.”
There is a long-standing debate about whether COVID-19 was caused by a laboratory leak or a zoonotic spillover.REUTERS
Morens also told Bloomberg reporters that HHS and the White House blocked him from “speaking.”[ing] about [COVID] ‘original’ on the record,” but he recently got some leeway if he didn’t mention his boss, according to an exchange flagged by a House subcommittee.
“Tony didn’t want his fingerprints on the original story,” Morens wrote in the email, dated July 29, 2021.
Johnson is the ranking member of the permanent Senate subcommittee on Investigations.
The Post reached out to an HHS spokesperson for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
