The Justice Department has indicted former top official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), David Morens, for allegedly evading Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the origins of the coronavirus that sparked the COVID-19 pandemic. Morens allegedly used a private Gmail account to hide official communications about federally funded projects studying coronaviruses in bats. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison for each count of concealment of records, up to five years for conspiracy against the U.S. and up to 20 years for destruction of records. The indictment comes after lengthy congressional investigations into the Biden administration's handling of the pandemic, with a focus on the origins.