David Morens, former NIAID adviser, pleads guilty in COVID-19 records scheme

(He should have been arrested a long time ago with that face…yikes)

By Melissa Quinn

August 18, 2026 / 4:03 PM EDT / CBS News

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Washington — A former senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from a scheme to hide federal records during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under a deal reached with federal prosecutors in Maryland, David Morens, 78, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit offenses and to defraud the United States. He faces up to five years in prison.

Morens, a senior adviser at NIAID's Office of the Director from 2006 to 2022, was indicted in April and charged with five counts for what prosecutors said at the time was his role in a scheme to defraud the U.S. by shielding federal records related to the COVID-19 pandemic from the public.

Tim Belevetz, a lawyer for Morens, said, "By pleading guilty today, Dr. Morens has taken responsibility for what he did and will continue to do so."

Prosecutors said Morens worked with two co-conspirators. The first, "co-conspirator 1," served as the president and CEO of a New York-based nonprofit that received a grant in 2014 titled "Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence." The Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, received a subaward from the New York group on the coronavirus grant, prosecutors said, though the National Institutes of Health terminated the award in April 2020 following allegations that COVID-19 emerged from the lab. The NIAID is part of the NIH.

Dr. David Morens appears during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing on Capitol Hill on May 22, 2024.

Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

The second co-conspirator was described in charging documents as a physician, scientist and professor who worked for an academic institute that received federal grants.

Emails made public by the GOP-led Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic indicate that the New York-based nonprofit is the EcoHealth Alliance and co-conspirator 1 is its president, Peter Daszak.

The indictment stemmed from several Freedom of Information Act requests NIAID received between April 2020 and December 2022 that sought communications between Morens, the New York-based nonprofit and its president.

According to the guilty plea, Morens and the two co-conspirators agreed to exchange emails about COVID-19 and its origins, as well as the terminated coronavirus grant, through Morens' personal Gmail account, rather than his official NIH account, to hide federal records and evade public records laws.

Morens and his co-conspirators also used his Gmail account to share nonpublic information from the NIH about COVID-19 and "back-channel" information to an unidentified senior NIAID official, who appears to be Anthony Fauci, the institute's former director, according to court filings.

Morens also admitted as part of his guilty plea that he and co-conspirator 1 conspired to pay illegal gratuities. Court records show that Morens received two bottles of wine in June 2020 from co-conspirator 1 for his "behind-the-scenes shenanigans," which were delivered to his Maryland house.….cont

IRS clarifies ‘no tax on overtime’ deduction rules. What workers need to know

PUBLISHED TUE, AUG 18 202610:11 AM EDTUPDATED TUE, AUG 18 202611:59 A

Sarah Agostino

KEY POINTS

• Employers will be required to include the eligible amount of overtime pay on workers’ W-2s for 2026.

• Nevertheless, it will be worth comparing the amount to your pay stubs to ensure it’s accurate, experts said.

• More than 29 million taxpayers claimed the “no tax on overtime” deduction for the 2025 tax year, and the average amount was more than $3,100, according to the Treasury Department.

Workers who are eligible for a federal tax break related to their overtime pay may have an easier time claiming it for the 2026 tax year than they did on their 2025 returns.

The IRS has updated its frequently asked questions about the “no tax on overtime” deduction to clarify and expand the information it has provided. There was some confusion about the deduction when 2025 tax returns were filed earlier this year, experts say.

Workers who are eligible for a federal tax break related to their overtime pay may have an easier time claiming it for the 2026 tax year than they did on their 2025 returns.

The IRS has updated its frequently asked questions about the “no tax on overtime” deduction to clarify and expand the information it has provided. There was some confusion about the deduction when 2025 tax returns were filed earlier this year, experts say.

″‘No tax on overtime’ can fit on a bumper sticker, but all of the terms and conditions that apply … naturally led to lots of questions from workers and employers about what kind of overtime is eligible and what kind of reporting is required of employers,” said Andrew Lautz, senior director of federal policy for the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group. “Now there are a lot more details.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/18/irs-no-tax-on-overtime-deduction-rules-2026.html

POLITICS & POLICY

In upset, democratic socialist Nixon defeats Vindman in Florida Democratic Senate primary

PUBLISHED TUE, AUG 18 20268:07 PM EDTUPDATED

Great Headline except Socialist

Democratic socialist Angie Nixon scored an upset victory on Tuesday in Florida’s Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate, as media outlets projected she defeated former national security official Alex Vindman.

Nixon, who has served in the Florida state legislature since 2022, will face Republican Senator Ashley Moody in November’s general election.

The winner will finish the remaining two years of former Senator Marco Rubio, who now serves as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state.

Vindman, a retired Army officer, rose to prominence in 2019 when he testified to Congress during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment about a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Florida voters on Tuesday picked candidates to run in the November election, which will determine control of Congress.

In other results, Representative Jared Moskowitz was projected on Tuesday to win the Democratic primary in Florida’s 25th congressional district, fending off challenger Oliver Larkin, who was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.

Moskowitz was running in a new district after Florida’s redistricting this year, intended to help Republicans gain seats in Congress in the November general election….

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/18/democratic-representative-moskowitz-fends-off-challenge-in-florida-from-democratic-socialist.html

South Carolina GOP Senate Runoff Debate Was Uncomfortable for Darline Graham

August 18, 2026 | sundance |

I’m sure she is a very nice person. Mrs Graham likely has all the best intents and inclinations.However, unfortunately I have strong reservations that Republicans can hold that South Carolina senate seat if Darline Graham goes into a general election against a Democrat candidate.

The special election debate between Darline Graham and Ralph Norman was tonight hosted by Newsmax. The full debate is below the fold,but here’s a sample that might be awkward to watch.

Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC): "National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise."

Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) is asked at #SCSen debate about Taiwan and the South China Sea: "I’m just going to be honest here; I’m not that informed on national security, so — but I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years…I'm not a polished politician up here. National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military."

(https://youtu.be/UtPkiDQXABU

Mrs. Darline Graham is currently serving in office as the appointed Republican Senator from South Carolina.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/18/south-carolina-gop-senate-runoff-debate-was-uncomfortable-for-darline-graham/

President Trump Pauses 50 Percent Tariffs Against Canada Hours Before Effect

August 18, 2026 | sundance |

President Trump has paused the 50% tariffs set to go into effect against Canada at midnight.

According to media reports, after the Canadian trade delegation failed to come to a negotiated settlement on key USMCA terms, Prime Minister Mark Carney called President Trump earlier today to discuss the tariffs that were scheduled to begin tomorrow.

President Trump has announced a pause via Truth Social:

I’m curious to see how this works out. Apparently, there’s something about the Keystone XL Pipeline in a deal.

UPDATE:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/18/president-trump-pauses-50-percent-tariffs-against-canada-hours-before-effect/#more-286171

Byron Donalds Easily Wins Florida Governor Primary – Alexander Vindman Squished by DSA Democrat

August 18, 2026 | sundance |

Alexander S. Vindman, the legend in his own mindand retired Army lieutenant colonelwho operated as a false witness to help the CIA manufacture President Trump’s first impeachment trial, lost to DSA Communist StateRepresentative Angie Nixon for Florida’s Democratic nomination for Senate. Nixon will now face Republican Ashley Moody in the general election.

WYOMING – In Wyoming, Representative Harriet M. Hageman, also running with President Trump’s endorsement, is likely to win the Republican Senate primary to replace Cynthia Lummis, who is retiring.

ALASKA – In the state that likes to play games with their elections, Alaska Senator Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican, faces former Democrat Representative Mary Peltola in one of the most closely watched Senate races of the midterms. A crowd of candidates including another inserted candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, are trying to split the votes with name games. The top four vote-winners will advance in this hot mess of a system.

Election Results Here and HERE

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/18/byron-donalds-easily-wins-florida-governor-primary-alexander-vindman-squished-by-dsa-democrat/