24 DAILY NEWS – Dr. David Morens, a 78-year-old retired government scientist, was recently arrested by armed federal agents and charged with felony offenses related to his alleged use of personal email to evade Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
### Allegations Against Morens
Prosecutors claim that Morens, who previously served as a senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, used personal accounts to avoid FOIA compliance, deleted important records, and attempted to circumvent federal record-keeping laws. According to one communication regarding COVID-19 research, he allegedly stated, “I learned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear after I’m FOIA’d but before the search starts. … Plus I deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to my Gmail.”
While Morens’s actions, if proven true, are serious and merit accountability, the Justice Department’s historical approach to FOIA enforcement has been lenient. This case marks a significant departure
