The Department of Health and Human Services is suspending government funding for EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit that oversaw bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the facility where lab-leak proponents believe the Covid-19 virus originated.
“I have suspended and proposed for debarment EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. (EHA) from participating in United States Federal Government procurement and nonprocurement programs,” HHS suspension and debarment official H. Katrina Brisbon wrote on Wednesday to embattled EcoHealth president Peter Daszak.
The suspension is temporary until formal debarment proceedings are concluded. Debarment would prevent EcoHealth from receiving taxpayer funding as a contractor or as a representative for another contractor. It’s unclear when the proceedings will begin.
As recently as last month, EcoHealth was receiving taxpayer money for a project in Liberia. The suspension is effective as of Tuesday throughout the federal government.
“EcoHealth Alliance is disappointed by HHS’ decision today and we will be contesting the proposed debarment,” an EcoHealth spokesperson told National Review. “We disagree strongly with the decision and will present evidence to refute each of these allegations and to show that [the National Institutes of Health’s] continued support of EcoHealth Alliance is in the public interest”
Brisbon wrote a memo detailing the reasons HHS deemed EcoHealth worthy of suspension and debarment proceedings.
The memo states that EcoHealth twice failed to supply the National Institutes of Health with materials needed to support the Wuhan research. EcoHealth similarly failed to produce a transparency report for over two years, without a reasonable justification. As a result, EcoHealth failed to comply with grant conditions and federal regulations, the memo says.
Daszak testified earlier this month in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Lawmakers from both parties scrutinized EcoHealth’s relationship with the Wuhan lab and its lack of transparency.
Throughout his testimony, Daszak strongly defended his organization’s work and denied facilitating gain-of-function bat coronavirus research designed to create more lethal viruses. He appeared to not be aware of the Wuhan lab’s links to China’s People’s Liberation Army and dismissed the possibility that the coronavirus originated with the lab.
When pressed on the reason he submitted a transparency report on the Wuhan lab research two years late, Daszak attributed the mishap to a technical glitch in the National Institutes of Health submission system.
“EcoHealth facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China without proper oversight, willingly violated multiple requirements of its multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health grant, and apparently made false statements to the NIH. These actions are wholly abhorrent, indefensible, and must be addressed with swift action,” subcommittee chairman Brad Wenstrup (R., Ohio) said in a statement. “EcoHealth’s immediate funding suspension and future debarment is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide.”
Just before Daszak testified, the subcommittee issued a report recommending EcoHealth’s debarment and a criminal investigation into Daszak by the Justice Department. The subcommittee found that Daszak’s justification for delaying the report lacked credibility.
“I think we would want [the Department of Justice’s] assistance in guiding us as to whether something is engaging in a criminal activity,” Wenstrup told National Review after Daszak’s testimony.
“I welcome the Administration’s announcement that it has suspended and initiated the termination of federal funding for EcoHealth Alliance,” subcommittee ranking member Raul Ruiz (D., Calif.) said in a statement. “Every recipient of federal taxpayer funding has an obligation to meet the utmost standards of transparency and accountability to the American public.”
“EcoHealth Alliance’s failure to do so is a departure from the longstanding legacy of good faith partnerships between [the National Institutes of Health] and federal grantees to advance science and the public interest,” he added.
The White Coat Waste Project, a taxpayer watchdog group, said it was “thrilled” about the HHS suspension and debarment proceedings for EcoHealth.
“Since 2020, we’ve been leading efforts with lawmakers to defund EcoHealth because our investigations have documented how they’ve raked in $60 million of new taxpayers’ cash just since the pandemic began, including $4 million just last month,” the watchdog’s founder, Anthony Bellotti, said in a statement. “We’re proud that we’ve helped ensure that taxpayers are never again forced to fund EcoHealth’s wasteful and dangerous virus hunting and animal experimentation.”
The subcommittee wrote a letter to one of Daszak’s colleagues last week accusing Daszak of intentionally obstructing the subcommittee’s investigation.
Daszak also appeared to discuss obstruction tactics for the upcoming testimony of David Morens, according to an email disclosed by the subcommittee. Morens was subpoenaed to testify later this month after he appeared to obstruct the subcommittee’s effort to have him testify ahead of his old boss, former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.