President Joe Biden’s administration has suspended federal funding for Peter Daszak, a key figure in the still-obscure evolution of the Wuhan coronavirus, and his EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) for failing to properly oversee their outreach efforts at the now-infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
The announcement was heartening news for critics who have long suspected Daszak played a role in spreading the coronavirus around the world and have sought to cover up his involvement ever since the pandemic began.
WATCH — Maher: We need to hold accountable those who covered up the truth and advocated for terrible policies during the COVID-19 pandemic:
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last Wednesday began the process of barring EHA from receiving federal funds after “a thorough investigation found sufficient evidence that EHA has not complied with federal regulations and the terms of its grant.”
An HHS spokesman said last week that EHA had not fulfilled its responsibility “to oversee the activities of its subcontractors.”
The most notorious was the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a Chinese laboratory that shocked the world. Reject To hand over important documents and samples related to research on the chimeric virus.
Daszak, a British zoologist, was one of the participants in an embarrassing “fact-finding mission” to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021. Controlled And it was orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party. Although Daszak and other team members initially tried to make the mission look successful, the amount of information China withheld and the minimal amount of time it gave the team to visit the WIV became an international scandal given the scale of the coronavirus disaster. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus publicly criticized the effort for not being “large-scale.”
Daszak became the driving force behind another cover-up that became a global scandal in the scientific community. Highly influential Letter published in Lancet In February 2020, he dismissed the theory that the novel coronavirus that caused the 2020 pandemic was a laboratory leak as an absurd conspiracy theory, instead claiming it had a natural origin.
The letter included a false disclaimer that none of the 27 signatories had any “competing interests” in discussing the origins of the coronavirus. Daszak undoubtedly used millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Lancet after that Hospitalized They are under intense pressure – and HHS’s decertification actions show that very clearly.
Daszak’s paper was subsequently criticized by skeptics as being poorly founded and poorly researched, and little evidence of a natural origin has been found since. Scientists and government officials are increasingly open to considering the lab leak theory.
House Select Subcommittee on Coronavirus Infections examination Classified State Department documents released earlier this month “compellingly suggest that COVID-19 emerged from a laboratory-related accident in Wuhan” and “strongly suggest that the Chinese Communist Party attempted to cover up the lab leak.”
The documents had previously been released in heavily redacted form, but the subcommittee argued for their full declassification in order to provide the American public with a “more complete view of the Government’s evidence regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
While the truth about the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus remains unknown, Daszak’s adamant assertion that a lab leak was impossible is now entirely outdated.
In a letter last week, HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Procurement Katrina Brisbon cited several instances in which NIH requested records that EHA did not provide: EHA has delayed providing some records to NIH for almost two years, and some requests from 2021 have yet to be received.
The NIH is essentially I tried The EHA and WIV demanded proof that the collaboration involved gain-of-function research on novel viruses, a violation of the terms of the EHA’s federal grant. Neither Daszak’s group nor the Chinese virology institute provided the required evidence, and the NIH concluded that the WIV’s violation of “biosafety protocols” was “undisputed.”
“I find that the information in the record is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that immediate suspension of the EHA is necessary to protect the public interest,” Judge Brisbon concluded.
Tuesday, H.H.S. sent In a separate letter to Daszak, he said he personally took responsibility for the EHA’s failure to properly oversee research into enhanced viruses conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“You are responsible for EHA’s alleged conduct because, through your role as EHA’s president, you participated in, knew about, or had reason to know about EHA’s improper conduct during all or part of the relevant period,” the letter states.
Daszak is expected to be barred from receiving federal funds for at least three years, but the Department of Health and Human Services said his suspension could last for “longer or shorter periods depending on the circumstances.”
Both Republicans and Democrats on the House Select Subcommittee on Oversight of COVID-19 praised the disqualification measure.
“I welcome the Administration’s announcement that it has begun suspending and terminating federal funding to EcoHealth Alliance. All recipients of federal taxpayer funds are obligated to meet the highest standards of transparency and accountability to the American people,” Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) said last week.
“The personal disbarment of EcoHealth Alliance Chairman Dr. Peter Daszak will ensure that he will never again receive a cent from American taxpayers or have the opportunity to start a new discredited organization,” subcommittee chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) declared Tuesday.
“The Select Committee intends to hold Dr. Daszak accountable for any misconduct and reminds him that his disbarment decision will not prevent him from producing any outstanding documents or answering Congressional questions,” Wenstrup said.
Daszak Said Rep. Wenstrup’s committee said this month that EHA partnered with a “major virology laboratory in Wuhan” in China on the research, “as did many other U.S. government-funded agencies,” but denied that the research had any connection to the Wuhan coronavirus.
“Viruses identified in bats in China have been used in U.S. laboratories to test drugs, vaccines and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic, saving countless lives,” he claimed.
Two weeks after Daszak testified, the subcommittee Hear the testimony “We have presented substantial evidence that Dr. Daszak knowingly misled both the NIH and the Special Subcommittee about EcoHealth’s efforts to comply with grant procedures,” NIH Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak said in a statement.
“Dr. Lawrence Tabak has repeatedly refuted the public and private testimony of EcoHealth Alliance Chairman Dr. Peter Daszak. It is now clear that Dr. Daszak has misled both the Select Subcommittee and the NIH on multiple occasions,” the subcommittee said.
Tabak’s testimony appeared to be the final straw for some members of the Select Subcommittee on COVID-19. While Wenstrup referenced Tabak’s hearing multiple times in her statement about EHA and Daszak’s decertification, members such as Lewis appeared much less willing to give EHA the benefit of the doubt afterward. Lewis went from arguing for a presumption of innocence for EHA earlier this month to praising the defunding of federal funds last week.
Rep. Wenstrup said Tuesday that Daszak’s activities since 2020 show “contempt for the American people, a flagrant disregard for the risks associated with gain-of-function research, and willful violations of the terms of his NIH grant.”
“Dr. Daszak’s impending decertification does not absolve him of accountability to the American people, as it appears he may have lied under oath about his affiliation with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and his compliance with NIH grant procedures,” he said.
Councillor Wenstrup It is called When HHS announced the alliance’s decertification, it called EHA’s conduct “utterly abhorrent” and “inexcusable,” characterized EHA as a “corrupt organization,” and indicated the subcommittee intended to get to the bottom of that corruption.
“We will hold EcoHealth accountable for any waste, fraud and abuse and will be fully committed to uncovering any misconduct, including false reports to Congress, the National Institutes of Health and the Inspector General,” he vowed.
