Cleaning up after COVID

Preventing the next pandemic requires providing accountability for the last one

by Frank Perley

Anthony Fauci at a White House Coronavirus Update

A careless act that injures innocents, followed by an instinctual impulse to flee the scene, is very human but thoroughly irresponsible. The coronavirus pandemic that earlier this decade killed 7 million worldwide, including more than 1 million U.S. citizens, was likely a consequence of epic carelessness. Until now, there has been very little accountability, seeming to validate the well-worn adage that “justice delayed is justice denied.” Appropriate accountability for criminality is one of the hallmarks of the just society that Americans aspire to inhabit, and fortunately, there is evidence that a long-overdue, post-pandemic clean-up is underway. It is, in the words of another common expression, “better late than never.”

Like a bolt of lightning out of the blue, an indictment has suddenly disabused Washington officialdom — and the American public — of the notion that all acts of COVID-19 commission and omission have faded into the mists of time. On April 28, the Department of Justice announced a criminal case against a former top aide to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who played a dominant role in the federal government’s pandemic response as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. David Morens, according to the indictment, conspired to suppress information about the origins of the deadly virus.

As a senior Fauci advisor at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the 78-year-old Dr. Morens is facing numerous charges for his alleged role in dodging Freedom of Information Act requests, including “destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations; concealment, removal, or mutilation of records; and aiding and abetting.”

“Not only did Morens allegedly engage in the illegal obfuscation of his communications,” said FBI Director Kash Patel in a statement, “but he received kickbacks for doing so. If you have engaged in activity conspiring against the United States, we will not stop until you face justice.”

The investigative trail in search of the virus’ source, of course, quickly led to China’s now-infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology. Immediate and well-grounded suspicions of experimental mishaps pointed to a lab leak as the source of the disease’s outbreak. Less understood, though, has been the role certain U.S. officials played in funneling American tax dollars to the lab prior to the disaster.

Dr. Morens’ alleged “illegal obfuscation” included efforts to hide emails regarding U.S. government funding of the Wuhan lab through a contractor, EcoHealth Alliance. When the firm’s link to the lab led to termination of its government contract, Dr. Morens purportedly accepted gifts in return for attempts to restart the firm’s funding. Further, he is accused of working to obscure the lab’s likely role in experimenting with the pathogen and promoting an alternative theory that the virus had a natural cause. A cover-up isn’t necessarily air-tight proof of culpability, but it’s a strong indicator of one.

David Morens in his position at NIAID

Maddeningly, Dr. Fauci has been spared similar scrutiny: On his final day in office, President Joe Biden pardoned Dr. Morens’ erstwhile boss for prosecution stemming from any federal offense he might have committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 20, 2025. While Dr. Morens is entitled to the presumption of innocence, his lack of a matching Biden “get out of jail free” card could mean decades behind bars if convicted.

State Department cables uncovered in 2023 by public health research group U.S. Right to Know allege close ties between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the People’s Liberation Army. Given its relentless quest for global ascendance, the opportunity for China to repurpose risky virological research for advances in bioweaponry should have raised red flags.

Whether the pandemic was the result of a catastrophic leak of a scientifically weaponized pathogen may never be known definitively, thanks to China’s characteristic lack of transparency. Accordingly, full accountability on behalf of the millions who lost their lives the world over could remain elusive.

Still, Americans are within their rights to expect honesty from their own government, particularly when large-scale loss of life is involved. Facilitating the kind of dangerous research undertaken by the Wuhan lab, given its alliance with a hostile military, constitutes the sort of misstep that soaring science might make, but down-to-earth reasoning would not.

Even if it is only a case of “better late than never,” the pursuit of justice for those involved in criminal conspiracy and cover-up related to the coronavirus outbreak is a necessary part of the post-pandemic clean-up. Accountability is the best insurance that Americans will never again face a similarly devastating tragedy.

Frank Perley is a former senior editor and editorial writer for Opinion at The Washington Times.