Federal Investigators Issue ‘Damning’ Report Over Fauci’s Lax Oversight of Wuhan Coronavirus Research
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The National Institutes of Health’s inspector general issued a “damning” Report of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s team, which funded research on coronaviruses at Wuhan, China.
Wednesday’s statement by the agency watchdog said that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases committed serious errors in its oversight of the dangerous bat research it funded at EcoHealth Alliance. The nonprofit group was at the centre of widespread speculations that COVID-19 might have leaked into the population from a Wuhan laboratory leak.
The investigators found that EcoHealth was two years late reporting to Fauci’s subagency that its lab-made coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were far more infectious than their natural counterparts. The report found that the NIH failed to refer the findings to an impartial government panel to supervise so-called gain of function research.
“It’s a damning indictment of NIH,” Lawrence O. Gostin is a Georgetown University professor and White House adviser on health security. told The New York Times. “This report really is the first truly independent and nonpartisan review of NIH procedures with research on enhanced pathogens, and it shows grave errors in following NIH’s own rules and also in just a diligent monitoring and oversight that the public would expect.”
Fauci’s team doled out $8 million to EcoHealth to research bat coronaviruses, $600,000 of which it funneled to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, from 2014 through 2021. Inspector general reports that the nonprofit group also misappropriated $89,171 of grant funds and failed ensure its Chinese partners met federal requirements.
“NIH missed opportunities to more effectively monitor research,” Inspector General of the NIH reported. “With improved oversight, NIH may have been able to take more timely corrective actions to mitigate the inherent risks associated with this type of research.”
These findings are expected to be revealed ahead of House Republicans’ investigations into the causes of the pandemic. Fauci, who was removed as director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in December, will be the focal point of those hearings.
EcoHealth said in a statement Wednesday that it was vindicated by the NIH inspector general’s report, noting that the investigators did not find “significant” Issues with grant oversight and compliance. It also claimed that it was underpaid $126.391 for its research with Wuhan’s lab. The group is now seeking reimbursement from the NIH.
EcoHealth, however, isn’t hard on
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