David Morens, an advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci, has pled guilty to federal charges. The Trump Administration has released FBI documents regarding an investigation into former Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell’s relationship with a Chinese National. New emails released by Republican Senators shed light on an FDA Commissioner’s concerns about COVID-19 vaccines causing adverse events. And we review other legal developments – including the effort by United Airlines to avoid accountability for its improper and punitive treatment of employees who sought accommodations to the COVID-19 vaccines.
Former Fauci advisor David Morens pleads guilty.
David Morens, a former senior advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has pled guilty to a conspiracy charge relating to “a scheme to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and the Federal Records Act in connection with communications about coronavirus research grants.” We previously explained the criminal case against Morens here.
According to the stipulated facts filed with the plea deal, Morens used his Gmail account to communicate with others regarding efforts to counter the beliefs that COVID-19 was developed in a lab. He also used his Gmail account to influence the National Institutes of Health to fund grants to his co-conspirators. Morens stipulated that he accepted improper gifts provided by a co-conspirator for his “behind-the-scenes shenanigans” that assisted the conspirator’s company.
Morens faces up to five years in prison but due to his age (78) and his lack of a criminal record, we expect he will only face probation. His co-conspirators have yet to be charged.
Rusty Thumbs: the Eric Swalwell investigation
The White House has released FBI records evidencing that former Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell had a potentially compromising romantic relationship with Chinese National Fang Fang.
According to the FBI records, Fang Fang was “the facilitator of a scheme to trade internships in Congressman Eric Swalwell’s Congressional office in return for campaign contributions, potentially in violation of” federal law. Several of these campaign contributions were made illegally through conduits.
Swalwell was interviewed by the FBI in May of 2015, where he confirmed he “had physical relations with Fang on a handful of occasions”, though he denied any illegal activity. One witness interviewed by the FBI had “the impression that FANG is a Chinese spy”. The FBI’s attempt to set Fang up with an undercover employee were unsuccessful – due to the timing of the placement of the undercover employee (UCE), Fang was suspicious that they were a government agent.
Fang would eventually leave the United States and be barred from re-entry. Prosecution of Fang was determined to be “non-viable due to national security reasons.” The investigation was headed by the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, which was led by Jack Smith, who would later be appointed and aggressively pursue President Trump.
FDA Commissioner expressed concern over COVID-19 vaccine adverse events
New records released by Senators Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have revealed that on May 27, 2021, Dr. Janet Woodcock, who at the time was serving as the Acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, informed Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins that medical professionals she knew were experiencing adverse events after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
In Dr. Woodcock’s own words: “I have been contacted by a number of people who have experienced adverse events post COVID-19 vaccination (from all three of the current vaccines). Many are healthcare professionals, some of whom I know.”
Despite these private concerns, Dr. Woodcock would publicly promote the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Two months after that email, Dr. Woodcock would testify before Congress and state that the vaccines were safe. She would also encourage children to receive the vaccines, telling them it would help end the pandemic.
United Airlines asks Supreme Court to stop COVID-19 vaccine mandate class action.
United Airlines has asked the Supreme Court to block a class action over allegations from its employees that the airline, which had mandated COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic, failed to reasonably accommodate their religious and medical objections to the vaccine. United Airlines took their case to the Supreme Court after the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling that affirmed a district court’s decision to certify as a class a group of United Airlines employees who sought religious accommodations to the COVID-19 vaccine and were placed on unpaid leave.
In other news:
The government has filed its opening brief in a federal appeals court in the Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia case, which a district court had dismissed for vindictive prosecution. Abrego Garcia was previously deported and then returned to the U.S., after which he faced a criminal prosecution for human smuggling.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a Texas law that imposed new security measures on mail-in ballots and ballot harvesting.
A Muslim illegal alien who murdered his roommate left the country after Democratic Virginia prosecutors “helped him get a foreign passport and allowed him to leave the mental hospital on unsupervised visits.” While he was on leave from the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, the admitted killer “boarded an international flight at Washington Dulles International Airport and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey. He thereafter traveled to Dushanbe, Tajikistan.” The Daily Wire has a great rundown of the infuriating case.
