COVID Cover-Up Bombshell & The Royals Go To Washington | 4.29.26

Summary

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Morning Wire Podcast Summary

Episode: COVID Cover-Up Bombshell & The Royals Go To Washington
Date: April 29, 2026
Hosts: John Bickley (Executive Editor), Georgia Howe
Featured Guests: Cabot Phillips, Jenny Terre, Bev Turner

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Episode Overview

This episode of Morning Wire dives into three high-impact news stories:

• Federal indictments related to COVID-19 cover-ups: Senior officials, including a longtime Fauci aide, are accused of conspiracy and record tampering.
• Major legal action against ex-FBI Director James Comey for alleged threats against President Trump.
• Royal diplomacy: King Charles's rare and symbolically-charged address to Congress amid shifting U.S.–UK political ties.

Additional reporting covers Trump administration responses to new border surges and anti-fraud raids in Minneapolis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. COVID-19 Cover-Up Indictment Bombshell

Guest: Cabot Phillips (Host, Wired In Live)
[02:33–07:04]

• Main Allegation:
  Senior advisor Dr. David Morens (longtime NIAID official under Dr. Fauci) is indicted on federal charges, including conspiracy against the U.S. and destruction/concealment of records.

  • Reference: “This indictment centers on Dr. David Morenz, who spent 16 years as a senior advisor at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases…accusing him of using his position to deliberately conceal information and falsify records to…suppress alternative theories about the origins of COVID-19.” – Cabot Phillips [03:02]

• The Smoking Gun:
  Morens’s own emails blatantly described methods for hiding/deleting material subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

  • Notable Quote (from Feb 2021 email, cited in the indictment):

    • “I learned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear…Plus, I deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to Gmail.” – Quoted by Cabot Phillips [04:05]

  • Another email, April 2021:

    • “I can either send stuff to Tony on his private Gmail or hand it to him at work or at his house. He’s too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble.” (“Tony” is understood to be Dr. Fauci) – Cabot Phillips [04:35]

  • June 2020:

    • “We are all smart enough to know to never have smoking guns. And if we did, we wouldn’t put them in emails. And if we found them, we would delete them.” – Cabot Phillips [05:09]

• Co-Conspirators:

  • Dr. Peter Daszak (EcoHealth Alliance, known for funding Wuhan research)
  • Dr. Gerald Kush (BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Lab)
  • Example: EcoHealth’s Daszak sent Morens wine with note thanking him for, “behind the scenes shenanigans.” DOJ calls this an illegal gratuity. [05:39]

• Legal Fallout:

  • Morens faces up to 51 years if convicted on all counts. Even partial conviction likely means years in prison.
  • Dr. Fauci is referenced (“Senior NIAID Official 1”) but not named as defendant—yet. “That does not mean there couldn’t be a future indictment of Fauci,” says Phillips. [06:30]

2. James Comey Indictment

Guest: Cabot Phillips
[07:04–08:21]

• Allegation:

  • Indicted for making a threat against President Trump via an Instagram post with “86 47” formed by seashells—interpreted as “eliminate 47” (Trump presumed as 47th President).

  • “86 is popular slang, generally meaning to take out or eliminate or kill. And 47 is presumably a reference to Trump, the 47th president.” – Cabot Phillips [07:14]

  • Comey deleted the post, apologized, claiming it was accidental.

  • Charges: Making a threat against the President and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. Prosecutors assert it would be “reasonably interpreted as a serious expression of intent to do harm to the President…” – Cabot Phillips [08:14]

  • Host John Bickley notes the DOJ’s recent aggressiveness in targeting powerful figures. [08:14]

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3. New Policies & Activity on U.S.–Mexico Border

Guest: Jenny Terre (Daily Wire Immigration Reporter)
[09:28–13:29]

• Border Surge:

  • Laredo, TX, sees increased “gotaways”—migrants evading capture.
  • 200 Border Patrol agents redeployed to Texas, indicating “shifting tactics by smugglers” under Trump’s crackdown. [09:40]

• Data & Context:

  • Caught migrants now more likely to be quickly deported or processed—“catch and release is nearly gone.”
  • Apprehensions down to <9,000/month—less than single-day peaks under Biden. [10:46]

• Agent Morale:

  • “Morale is suffering”—agents contend with increased workloads and doxing/assaults, especially during Minneapolis anti-fraud raids. [11:43]
  • DHS shutdown is worsening morale. [12:39]

• Trump Admin Raids in Minneapolis:

  • FBI and Homeland Security raided 22 childcare and Somali-linked businesses as part of anti-fraud operation, led by VP J.D. Vance.
  • Vance: “the DOJ will be relentless in exposing these fraudsters wherever they may be hiding.” [12:53]

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4. King Charles’s Visit & UK–US Relations

Guest: Bev Turner (Host, GB News Late Show Live)
[14:35–17:59]

• Royal Address to Congress:

  • “The king is literally the only person in the world to whom Donald Trump feels deferential…there’s a real soft side of President Trump that comes out when he’s with the royals. It’s very sweet to watch.” – Bev Turner [15:15]

  • Turner praises symbolism, noting American ceremonial efforts “looked beautiful…stunning.” [14:52]

• Diplomatic Implications:

  • King Charles’s message: UK and US “must reconcile.”

  • Front page UK coverage credits the king with bringing relations “closer together again.” [16:01]

  • “President Trump loves the royal family; he doesn’t love [Prime Minister] Keir Starmer.” – Turner [16:01]

  • Unsure if Starmer will jeopardize renewed goodwill after the King’s visit. [16:01]

• UK Political Turmoil:

  • UK Parliament debated investigating PM Starmer over appointment of Lord Mandelson as Ambassador to US—a potential violation and party-splitting incident.
  • “When you have your own MPs voting against you, that becomes a very precarious position.” – Turner [17:01]
  • May mark a “key moment in the demise of the Prime Minister.” [17:01]

• U.S. Attention:

  • Bickley notes the US interest in the British PM “for all the wrong reasons,” particularly related to Iran. [17:49]

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Cabot Phillips [04:05]:
  “I learned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear…Plus, I deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to Gmail.” (quoting Dr. Morens’s email)

• Cabot Phillips [07:14]:
  “86 is popular slang, generally meaning to take out or eliminate or kill. And 47 is presumably a reference to Trump, the 47th president.”

• Bev Turner [15:15]:
  “The king is literally the only person in the world to whom Donald Trump feels deferential…When King Charles is there, he becomes almost childlike.”

• Bev Turner [17:01]:
  “When you have your own MPs voting against you, that becomes a very precarious position…It may be one of the key moments in the demise of the Prime Minister.”

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Important Timestamps

• COVID Cover-Up Segment: [02:33–07:04]
• James Comey Indictment: [07:04–08:21]
• Border Activity & Minneapolis Raids: [09:28–13:29]
• King Charles, UK–US Relations & UK Politics: [14:35–17:59]

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Conclusion

This episode delivers direct, fact-driven coverage of the latest political and cultural developments, with an emphasis on law enforcement action (COVID record tampering, political threats, fraud crackdowns) and significant diplomatic events (U.S.–UK relations, King Charles’s visit). The tone is pointed and skeptical, especially regarding government accountability, and underscores shifting policies and alliances both domestically and abroad.

Transcript

[Cabot Phillips]

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[Bev Turner]

See full [e-mail].

[John Bickley]

The Justice Department announces a pair of high profile indictments for an alleged Covid cover up and a threat against Trump. Dr. Morence, did you ever delete or

[Sponsor/Advertiser]

attempt to delete a federal record?

[Cabot Phillips]

No, but let me explain why.

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire Executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howell. It's Wednesday, April 29th. This is Morning Wire.

[Daily Wire Host]

The Trump administration carries out sweeping raids over fraud claims in Minneapolis and surges Border Patrol agents to Texas.

[John Bickley]

And King Charles addresses the U.S. congress in a rare royal visit to the nation's capital. As President Trump himself observed, the bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal.

[Daily Wire Host]

Thanks for waking up with MORNING wire. Stay tuned. We have the news. Need to know.

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[Daily Wire Host]

A bombshell dropped from the Justice Department Tuesday morning. One of Dr. Anthony Fauci's longest serving aides has been indicted on federal charges. Soon after, another indictment was handed down to former FBI Director James Comey.

[John Bickley]

Joining us now is Cabot Phillips, host of Wired in Live. Morning, Cabot. So, a pair of major indictments yesterday. Let's start with the COVID 19 cover up. Not a lot of legacy media coverage of this so far. Maybe not so surprisingly.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah.

[John Bickley]

What exactly is being alleged here?

[Cabot Phillips]

So just to catch everyone up, this indictment centers on Dr. David Morenz, who spent 16 years as a senior advisor at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. That's the department that Anthony Fauci served as director of for nearly 40 years. This is someone who worked side by side with Dr. Fauci Day in and day out throughout the height of the COVID 19 pandemic until he left in 2022. That's the same year Fauci left. Now, the justice department is accusing Dr. Morenz of using his position to deliberately conceal information and falsify records to, in their view, suppress alternative theories about the origins of COVID 19. He's charged with one count of conspiracy against the United States, two counts of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations, and two counts of concealment, removal or mutilation of records. FBI Director Caspitel then went a step further, accusing Morens of receiving kickbacks in exchange for concealing records on the origin

[John Bickley]

of COVID So some of Marin's emails were sort of public knowledge for a while now. But tell us about the part of this that's really gotten him in legal trouble.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, this is really the most striking part of this indictment. So Morens did not leave much ambiguity in his emails, and you could say, did most of the prosecutions work for them. This is a direct quote from one of his emails in February 2021, basically admitting to concealing records from a Freedom of Information act, or FOIA request. Quote, I learned from our FOIA lady here how to make emails disappear and after I'm foia, but before the search starts. Plus, I deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to Gmail. So again, he's pretty much bragging here about breaking federal law surrounding recordkeeping. Here's another one from April 2021. He says, quote, There is no worry about FOAS. I can either send stuff to Tony on his private Gmail or hand it to him at work or at his house. He's too smart to let colleagues send him stuff that could cause trouble. And Tony here is almost certainly Dr. Anthony Fauci, who goes by Tony.

[John Bickley]

All right, so he's really just spelling out not only his actions, but his actual motivations in some of these emails. And it's notable that he doesn't seem worried about oversight in this situation. What should we make of that?

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, the trust, the expert sentiment at the time seemed to give him a sense of arrogance, and that's truly remarkable. But it gets even worse, if you can believe it, in June of 2020. So the first few months of the pandemic, Morenz writes, quote, we are all smart enough to know to never have smoking guns. And if we did, we wouldn't put them in emails. And if we found them, we would delete them.

[John Bickley]

But as we all know, nothing is ever truly deleted, especially in Washington. Now, Marinz isn't the only person in this indictment. Who else is named here?

[Cabot Phillips]

So along with Morens, there are two co conspirators. Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth alliance, which was the Manhattan based nonprofit that is now infamous for funneling US Tax dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. And the second was another NIH grant at Boston University's National Emerging infectious disease laboratory. Dr. Gerald Kush Morenz is accused of abusing his power to benefit both of these co conspirators, who in turn allegedly promoted the natural origin theory of COVID and then worked with Morens to bury records that contradicted it. In one example from the indictment, the president of EcoHealth alliance sent Morens two bottles of Napa Valley wine with a note thanking him for his, quote, behind the scenes shenanigans. That's something the Justice Department is calling an illegal gratuity.

[John Bickley]

So what are we looking at if Moren in fact found guilty? And is Fauci in any serious legal trouble?

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, for Moren, if he's convicted on all charges, he could face up to 51 years in federal prison. And even if only some of these charges stick, he's likely looking at at least a few years in terms of Fauci. He is referenced several times in the indictment as Senior NIAID Official 1. And this happening under his watch certainly does not make him look good. But he ultimately was not named as a defendant. Now, that does not mean there couldn't be a future indictment of Fauci, especially given the DOJ's incredible increasing willingness to go after prominent government officials as of late. And we know President Trump would love to secure an indictment of Fauci.

[John Bickley]

Right? And speaking of the Justice Department's willingness to go after, you know, perceived enemies of Trump. We have this James Comey indictment that came down yesterday. What exactly is being alleged there?

[Cabot Phillips]

So this one is a little less cut and dry than the Morens one for sure. The indictment was brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the county clerk there issued a warrant actually for Comey's arrest. This new set of charges stems from Comey's provocative Instagram post last year where he shared a photo of a seashell formation depicting the numbers 86 and 47 with the caption quote, cool shell formation on my beach walk. Now, it sounds harmless, but if you didn't know, 86 is popular slang, generally meaning to take out or eliminate or kill. And 47 is presumably a reference to Trump, the 47th president. Now, Comey eventually deleted that post and apologized, claiming to have just stumbled across this formation of shells by happenstance. The indictment charges Comey with making a threat against the President and transmitt threat in interstate commerce. Prosecutors argue that, quote, a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret the post as a, quote, serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.

[John Bickley]

One thing's for certain, Todd Blanch is really starting off aggressively in his term. Kevin, thanks so much for reporting.

[Cabot Phillips]

Absolutely.

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[John Bickley]

New activity on the Texas border leads the Trump administration to pull agents from across the country to assist.

[Daily Wire Host]

Daily Wire immigration reporter Jenny Terre joins us now to discuss. So, Jenny, what's happening in Texas?

[Jenny Terre]

Yeah. So while the Trump administration has touted record low illegal border crossings, there's a new surge of what are known as gotaways, so migrants who are trying to run and evade apprehension. Now, the Laredo, Texas, border sector is where this is happening. It's historically been a hub for those gotaways, which are detected through sensors and cameras when those border agents are tied up elsewhere. This increase is likely because smugglers are trying to always find new ways to keep their profits. And under Trump, that's been a hard task for them. So now, according to internal memos and federal law enforcement sources, roughly 200 Border Patrol agents from the northern border and other areas of the southern border are being asked to volunteer to assist those agents in that sector in laredo for about 30 days.

[Daily Wire Host]

Now, just to clarify, Jenny, does this mean that the people being caught are now attempting to run rather than just submit to Border Patrol?

[Jenny Terre]

Yes, exactly. They're trying to avoid those consequences the Trump administration has imposed.

[Daily Wire Host]

Now, does all of this mean that the efforts at the border are showing cracks or what can we infer from this?

[Jenny Terre]

You know, most of the illegal immigrants who are caught are getting removed quickly, which is why we're seeing a lot of those people trying to run from authorities. There are some that get transferred to ice. They're usually held there for their immigration proceedings and then usually deported. Some are getting released. But for the most part, that catch and release incentive is nearly gone. It's no longer the border. Under the Biden administration, when people were walking across, availing themselves to Border Patrol authorities, they were even going up to them without identification and still getting released into the country. The number of illegal migrants that Border Patrol is apprehending right now is under 9,000amonth since the Trump administration came into power. And that's even lower than some single days under the Biden administration when we were seeing like 10,000 or 12,000 during some of the big surges.

[Daily Wire Host]

Now, you've also been talking about this new volunteer request that you've discussed with your sources. What are they saying about that?

[Jenny Terre]

You know, a lot of these guys have helped the Trump administration with the mass deportation effort, whether it was in Minneapolis, New Orleans, or Chicago, especially in cities like Minneapolis, where they were facing Attacks from left wing agitators who were doxing them, assaulting them, and of course, trying to stop them from making arrests. They're dealing with that and they've dealt with that. And then they're back in their home sectors and they still have tasks there. There's still legal crossings happening. I mean, there are consequences. Like we discussed, people are getting deported more quickly and more easily. You know, one of my sources who's on the northern border said that while those illegal crossings are down, they're still overwhelmed by smuggling of humans and drugs. And in some of those areas, it's so rural and so undermanned that there could be just a single agent that has to deal with, let's say, a vehic pursuit of a smuggler who's carrying a load of people or drugs now.

[Daily Wire Host]

And I imagine that the DHS shutdown isn't helping with morale.

[Jenny Terre]

Yeah, it certainly adds salt to the wound.

[Daily Wire Host]

Now, speaking of Minneapolis, the Trump administration carried out raids of some mostly Somali linked businesses on Tuesday morning. What do we know about that?

[Jenny Terre]

Right. So that morning, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents descended upon the Twin Cities. They raided multiple childcare facilities. Most of them are Somali linked. And this also included the infamous Quality Leering Center. And this is all part of the Trump administration's crackdown on fraud. In total, they executed 22 search warrants. Vice President J.D. vance commented on this as leading the fraud task force, and he said that the task force and the DOJ will be relentless in exposing these fraudsters wherever they may be hiding.

[Daily Wire Host]

Well, they have their work cut out for them. Jenny, thanks for reporting.

[Jenny Terre]

Thank you.

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[Daily Wire Host]

King Charles royal visit to the nation's capital crescendos in a rare address to the United States Congress.

[John Bickley]

Joining us now to discuss the memorable moment and the contentious context of this visit is GB News Bev Turner, host of the Late Show Live. This is two days in a row that we've asked you on.

[Bev Turner]

Well, that's my pleasure, John. Of course, it's a big deal between our two countries, isn't it? At the moment, this state visit, historic day. I have to say, you Americans don't think to do the military stuff quite as well as the UK does, but it did look beautiful. It was stunning.

[John Bickley]

First big picture, what do you think is the biggest thing that I think people there at the event and people observing this might take away?

[Bev Turner]

I think the relationship between the two men absolutely critically. The king is literally the only person in the world to whom Donald Trump feels deferential. He reveres the royal family. I've seen him in the White House with other lots of different global leaders and he always looks like the top dog in the room. When King Charles is there, he becomes almost childlike and he talks about the fact that his mother used to watch the royal family and she used to even have a crush on King Charles. He made this joke about that. And I think there's a real soft side of President Trump that comes out when he's with the royals. It's very sweet to watch.

[John Bickley]

We've talked at length about the growing wedge between Prime Minister Starmer and Trump. Did this visit address that at all? And do you see this as helping mend the relationship between the UK and us?

[Bev Turner]

I think very much so, John. And I've got the newspaper front covers here from the UK for tomorrow. And they are all saying that king tells congress America and UK Must reconcile. They're very positives saying how the king has brought the relationship between the two countries closer together again. Now, of course, that is, as per my earlier point about the fact that President Trump loves the royal family. We know he still doesn't love Keir Starmer. What will happen after this. Will the Prime Minister come out and say something once the King has left, which jeopardizes and sabotages that relationship? It remains to be seen. But Starmer has troubles of his own at the moment, so he'll be quite happy to not be here talking to the President.

[John Bickley]

Fred, I wanted to ask you about those troubles back on your home turf. The UK Parliament debated yesterday on the floor about whether to investigate Prime Minister Starmer. Catch us up. What was the decision and what were they potentially looking into?

[Bev Turner]

Well, they were looking into whether there should be an official inquiry into Starmer's decision to place Lord Mandelson as the British ambassador to the US. And Starmer forced his MPs to vote this down. It's a really unethical thing to do. Did Starmer lie to Parliament is what they were voting on when he appointed Mandelson to this position. And there were 54 of his MPs abstained. 14 MPs actually voted against the Prime Minister. And when you are in our British system and you have your own MPs voting against you, that becomes a very precarious position to be in. So it may be one of the key moments in the demise of the Prime Minister. It may not matter anymore what his relationship's like with President Trump, because President Trump might have a relationship with somebody else soon.

[John Bickley]

Well, there's a lot of interest in the British Prime Minister here in the US for all the wrong reasons, with how he's handled this Iran conflict. Bev Turner, so great to see you. Thanks for coming on.

[Bev Turner]

Thank you.

[Daily Wire Host]

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show now, you can watch for free on Daily Wire. Plus, we'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.