The US House of Representatives to Investigate the EcoHealth Alliance for Virus Origins

The United States House Oversight Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (SSCP) has accused the EcoHealth Alliance of funding “risky gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China without adequate oversight,” calling for a criminal investigation into the EcoHealth Alliance and the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

The EcoHealth Alliance is a non-governmental organization based in the United States that focuses on researching epidemic prevention.

The call for a criminal investigation came following the release of an interim staff report. The report alleges that Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of the EcoHealth Alliance, funded “risky gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China without adequate oversight.”

In a statement released on Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability stated that “the Select Subcommittee has gathered significant original documents and credible first-hand testimonies during the investigation, providing crucial evidence that Dr. Daszak has repeatedly violated the terms of the grants awarded to the EcoHealth Alliance by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).”

The statement announced that “given Dr. Daszak’s blatant disregard for the American people and refusal to provide requested legal reports, the Select Subcommittee recommends the formal suspension of the EcoHealth Alliance and its president, as well as a criminal investigation.”

Lawmakers have expressed concerns that the EcoHealth Alliance used taxpayer money to fund “risky gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).” The EcoHealth Alliance has contested this claim.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the EcoHealth Alliance stated, “The EcoHealth Alliance did not support ‘gain-of-function’ research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, nor did it violate any policies. Any statements to the contrary are based on misconstruing or deliberately distorting the actual research.”

The alliance added, “Although the Select Subcommittee in the House claimed that EcoHealth Alliance conducted gain-of-function research, the NIH itself does not agree with that, as confirmed in a letter dated July 7, 2016, from the NIH to the EcoHealth Alliance under the Freedom of Information Act, stating, ‘NIH agreed that the proposed work… is not constrained by the pause on gain-of-function research.'”

Daszak testified publicly on Wednesday before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

He stated, “The transparency of our work and our long-standing collaboration with Chinese scientists has made us a target of misinformation regarding the origins of COVID; from early 2020 to today, we have repeatedly refuted many myths and false allegations about EcoHealth Alliance’s research.”

He continued, “However, as the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to spiral out of control and emotions ran high, our organization and employees, even my own family, have been subjected to false accusations, death threats, illegal intrusions, media harassment, and other destructive behaviors; our organization has spared no effort in addressing all accusations, examining our records, and publicly stating the facts.”

Fox News Digital previously reported that the EcoHealth Alliance received millions of dollars in funding from the NIH, and these funds from American taxpayers flowed through the EcoHealth Alliance to support coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal on October 28, 2021, the EcoHealth Alliance and the NIH had disagreements over reports on coronavirus research in China. The NIH accused the EcoHealth Alliance of failing to timely report the experimental results of their 2018 collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and failing to meet the requirements of another $3.4 million grant, which was aimed at studying the human risks of coronavirus transmission from Chinese bats.

The EcoHealth Alliance refuted these accusations, stating that the nonprofit organization complied with the NIH’s grant requirements and submitted undisclosed data related to the grants to the NIH.

The NIH has maintained its position stated in the letter to Congress, indicating that it will not further comment on internal reviews related to compliance with grants. A spokesperson for the NIH stated that the letter was intended to demonstrate to lawmakers that they are endeavoring to ensure the responsible use of National Institutes of Health funds.