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“By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so," defense attorney Tim Belevetz said in a statement after the plea hearing.

He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on November 12. “By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did, and he will continue to do so," Timothy Belevetz, his lawyer, said in a statement.

In July, Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a congressional hearing on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last Friday, Fauci declined a request to appear voluntarily before a second Senate panel after majority Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee voted along partisan lines to hold him in contempt of Congress. Fauci wasn’t charged in the case against Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland.

Fauci on July 29 invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times during a subpoenaed appearance before the Senate homeland security committee.

The plea came after Fauci, who led the NIAID for 38 years and became the face of the U.S. pandemic response, appeared before a Senate panel last month and repeatedly invoked his right against self-incrimination as he accused Republican Senator Rand Paul, a longtime adversary from Kentucky, of pursuing an "unhinged" campaign to see him imprisoned.

Uthmeier initially announced his office would launch an investigation into Fauci on July 29, shortly after Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to answer any questions about his role in the COVID-19 pandemic response 111 times while testifying before a Senate committee.

Some observers have suggested that Co-Conspirator 1 is former EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak. As Federalist Senior Contributor Helen Raleigh previously reported, from 2014-2020, EcoHealth sent “more than half a million dollars’ worth of U.S. government grants, including those from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with Anthony Fauci’s approval, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses.”

Morens faces a maximum of five years in prison for one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S.

The indictment follows a probe by House Republicans into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic that scrutinized Morens’ email communications and accused him of intentionally concealing records. In congressional testimony, Morens denied attempting to evade federal transparency laws by using his personal email.

Morens admitted in court to conspiring with EcoHealth researcher Peter Daszak to hide their communications about efforts to restore funding for EcoHealth after President Trump cut it off early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The email from Daszak to Morens and others involved in the alleged conspiracy confirms that EcoHealth Alliance personnel will “communicate with [Morens] via gmail from now on,” confirming that Morens requested to discuss COVID-19 only on nongovernment platforms.

Dr. Fauci has received a full pardon from President Biden for any federal crimes he may have committed for activities during the pandemic.