Margaret Moore, a former NIH employee accused of helping others shield emails from public scrutiny, has invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a deposition before the House COVID-19 subcommittee. Republicans allege that Moore played a role in concealing records related to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically concerning the NIH’s relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has initiated formal debarment proceedings against Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of EcoHealth Alliance. The move follows HHS’s suspension of all funds allocated to EcoHealth Alliance due to serious compliance failures. EcoHealth Alliance is a US-based nonprofit that used taxpayer funds to conduct gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab before the COVID-19 pandemic. The memorandum cited several instances of EcoHealth’s failure to comply with grant procedures, including a late review of the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s work that showed a possible increase in viral activity. The debarment will prevent Daszak from participating in federal procurement and nonprocurement programs.
Lawmakers allege that EcoHealth Alliance, a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to pandemic prevention, used taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China. EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak is expected to publicly testify before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to address these allegations. The hearing is expected to focus on discrepancies in Daszak’s previous closed-door testimony and EcoHealth’s relationship with the WIV. The research in question involved studying bat coronaviruses and their potential transmission to humans. Both the U.S. Energy Department and the FBI have suggested the possibility of a lab leak as the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Anthony Fauci will testify publicly for the first time since his retirement on June 3, 2024, in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The subcommittee sent a letter to Fauci memorializing the agreement for his testimony, which will include two days of transcribed interviews and a public hearing. Fauci’s upcoming testimony will follow the revelation that EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak may have lied to Congress about his company’s work on gain-of-function research and their involvement with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
