The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released an interim report calling for an investigation into EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak.
The report “details the Select Subcommittee’s comprehensive investigation into the U.S. government’s funding and lack of oversight of gain-of-function research, EcoHealth Alliance (EcoHealth), and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV),” according to a press release.
Daszak “repeatedly violated the terms of the NIH grant awarded to EcoHealth,” the release said.
According to the report, EcoHealth Alliance “violated its grant terms and conditions by failing to report a potentially dangerous experiment conducted by the WIV.” EcoHealth Alliance was required to report gain-of-function experiments that displayed “greater than ‘on log growth,'” meaning that the virus was altered to be 10 times more infectious.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) believed an unreported experiment facilitated by WIV violated this policy.
EcoHealth Alliance also failed to submit a research report until nearly two years after its initial deadline.
Daszak claimed he was “locked out” of the NIH system, although an investigation into the matter found the claim was unsubstantiated.
“The select subcommittee does not find EcoHealth’s explanation for the delayed submission to be credible or consistent with testimony and documents produced during this investigation,” the report states.
Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) said Daszak is “not a good steward of U.S. taxpayer dollars and should never again receive funding from the U.S. taxpayer.”
“Dr. Daszak and his organization conducted dangerous gain-of-function research at the WIV, willfully violated the terms of a multi-million-dollar NIH grant, and placed U.S. national security at risk,” he said. “This blatant contempt for the American people is reprehensible. It is imperative to establish higher standards of oversight at the NIH. The Select Subcommittee’s detailed and comprehensive report today holds Dr. Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance accountable and sheds light on severe shortcomings in our public health systems.”
