EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak is scheduled to testify publicly Wednesday before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic..
EcoHealth, a U.S.-based nonprofit with a mission to prevent pandemics, used taxpayer money to “fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV)” in China, according to lawmakers. It is said that he used the funds of other people.
Origins of the new coronavirus: EcoHealth Alliance president to testify publicly before Congress next month
Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) is scheduled to lead the hearing, along with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Chairman (R-Washington), House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Committee Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and House Health Subcommittee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) will also be in attendance to ask questions of Mr. Daszak.
Peter Daszak (right), Thea Fisher (left) and other members of the World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the novel coronavirus at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on February 3, 2021. Arrival in. (Héctor Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
Daszak testified behind closed doors in November, but House Republicans said his testimony contained numerous “inconsistencies,” according to a letter sent to Daszak last month by Wenstrup and other Republican committee chairs. He said there was.
“These revelations, as well as all the factual assertions you made during the transcribed interviews, undermine your credibility,” Wenstrup and colleagues wrote. “The committee has a right and a duty to protect the integrity of the investigation, including the accuracy of testimony in the interview transcripts. We recommend that the record be corrected.”
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Lawmakers have called on Daszak to point out inconsistencies in his testimony and publicly explain the relationship between EcoHealth and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Lawmakers also said the discrepancies raise “serious questions about the veracity of EcoHealth’s public statements, including its assertion that WIV-funded research could not have caused the pandemic.”
Security guards stand outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on February 3, 2021. (Héctor Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
But Daszak’s hearing will be of interest to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
A Democratic spokesperson for the coronavirus subcommittee told Fox News Digital that Congress must “pursue and prioritize positive reforms that strengthen biosafety standards in the United States and around the world to help reduce the threat.” “I have emphasized the importance of this,” he said. Prevent future outbreaks and prevent future pandemics. ”
“In the Special Subcommittee on Federally Funded Research investigation, testimony and documents reviewed by the Democratic Select Subcommittee show that the EcoHealth Alliance is committed to ensuring that grant recipients are accountable to the American people. “This raises serious concerns that the company has ignored its reporting obligations,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We look forward to Dr. Daszak’s testimony before the Select Subcommittee on this issue.”
Fox News Digital previously reported that EcoHealth Alliance received a multi-million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). U.S. taxpayer funds flowed to Chinese companies conducting coronavirus research through EcoHealth Alliance.
This diagram shows the P4 laboratory (center left) at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on May 27, 2020. (Héctor Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
The money, at least $600,000, was sent to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for research evaluating the transmission of bat coronaviruses to humans. The study included performing RNA extraction and DNA sequencing on bat samples, as well as biological experiments on pathogen spillover from bats to humans.
EcoHealth Alliance also received more than $200,000, which will be directed to Wuhan University to help the Wuhan Institute of Virology collect biological samples from people in China who have been exposed to high levels of bats to conduct further screening, etc. , earmarked for disease surveillance research activities.
Former US government officials, including former NIH director Francis Collins, have said that US tax dollars should not be used to conduct gain-of-function research (research that modifies viruses to make them more infectious to humans). Stated.
“Dr. Daszak’s private testimony raised serious concerns about EcoHealth Alliance’s relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Wenstrup told FOX News Digital in a statement. “Even after the Select Subcommittee reminded Dr. Daszak that he could be subject to criminal prosecution if he lied to the committee, Dr. He made a number of claims that appeared to be contradictory.
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“We look forward to an honest forum where the American people can hear directly from the Chairman of the EcoHealth Alliance and finally get the answers they deserve about the origins of COVID-19.” Wen Wen Strapp said.
The U.S. Department of Energy and FBI have determined that the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) likely originated from a laboratory breach in China.
