Many years too late, but better late than never.

The Department of Health and Human Services is cutting off all funds and initiating procedures to ban the EcoHealth Alliance from getting federal money for at least three years. However, HHS may extend that period based on the seriousness of the violations. 

The violations are very serious. 

About damn time. Now, prosecute him. Toss him in jail and throw away the key. Tar and feather him. Put him in the stocks. 

EcoHealth & Dr. Daszak facilitated gain-of-function research in China without proper oversight & willingly violated multiple requirements of @NIH grants.

They should never again receive a single penny from the U.S. taxpayer.

Read Chairman @RepBradWenstrup's full statement👇 pic.twitter.com/Jw9VQVVBIf

— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) May 15, 2024

It is impossible to overstate how important this move is. It is a formal acknowledgment by The Department of Health and Human Services that the EcoHealth Alliance--which has been funding gain-of-function research that violates American law and almost certainly created the COVID-19 virus--is an outlaw entity with which the US government should have nothing to do. 

Peter Daszak, its CEO, is one of Tony Fauci's best friends. He conspired to funnel money to Dazsek and has repeatedly lied about whether the organization engaged in prohibited activity. HHS has not directly implicated Fauci, but their conclusion that EcoHealth violated federal rules makes him a perjurer, having lied to Congress multiple times. 

As if we didn't already know that. 

The suspension and debarment stem from the investigation of the House's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The hearing with Daszak was fascinating because we witness a true sociopathic liar doing what he does best. A man who killed millions and can defend his record proudly is something you rarely see. 

I hope to never see it again. 

"EcoHealth Alliance and Dr. Peter Daszak should never again receive a single penny from the U.S. taxpayer. Only two weeks after the Select Subcommittee released an extensive report detailing EcoHealth's wrongdoing and recommending the formal debarment of EcoHealth and its president, HHS has begun efforts to cut off all U.S. funding to this corrupt organization. EcoHealth facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China without proper oversight, willingly violated multiple requirements of its multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health grant, and apparently made false statements to the NIH. These actions are wholly abhorrent, indefensible, and must be addressed with swift action. EcoHealth's immediate funding suspension and future debarment is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American

national security and the safety of citizens worldwide. "The Select Subcommittee's investigation into EcoHealth and the origins of COVID- 19 is far from over. Dr. Daszak and his team are still required to produce all outstanding documents and answer the Select Subcommittee's questions, specifically related to Dr. Daszak's potential dishonesty under oath. We will hold EcoHealth accountable for any waste, fraud, and abuse and are committed to uncovering any illegal activity, including lying to Congress, NIH, or the Inspector General," said Chairman Wenstrup.

All the worst actors during the pandemic have been defending Dazsak and the EcoHealth Alliance, including working behind the scenes to hide information from Congress and muddy the waters. Attacking Dazsak was equivalent to attacking Science™ itself. 

These men too should be tarred and feathered. 

On April 20, 2024, EcoHealth Alliance president Peter Daszak emailed anti-science, anti-public-interest activists Gerald Keusch and Peter Hotez to discuss a "strategy" to obstruct Congressional investigation of malfeasance by NIH officials David Morens and Anthony Fauci. https://t.co/qSHvB4kXyK pic.twitter.com/vYLXDdqgMg

— Richard H. Ebright (@R_H_Ebright) May 8, 2024

Dazsak initiated the DEFUSE grant, which proposed creating a coronavirus that almost precisely matches the COVID-19 virus that caused the pandemic. Scientists involved in the proposal have testified that they don't even remember the project despite the virus erupting slightly more than a year after the proposal. 

They are liars too. 

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was a prime recipient of EcoHealth Alliance funds. It is also the institution that Dazsak slated to create his frankenvirus. 

As I have argued many times, the best and almost only thing Republicans in Congress can accomplish in this session is pushing forward the oversight investigations. Their slim majority makes passing legislation nearly impossible, but the subpoena power gives them enormous leverage to pry information out of reluctant agencies and organizations. 

It's too early to know how far-reaching the results will be; stopping the flow of funds is a big step but only a first step in creating accountability. 

A Republican president, House, and Senate will be necessary to press forward, and a Republican Attorney General can start putting the malefactors in jail for violating laws and committing perjury. 

Let's get it done!