Covid-19: Dangerous Gain-Of-Function Research By EcoHealth Alliance – Doctor In Charge Debarred By NIH – Efforts By Committee With Staten Island’s Rep. Malliotakis, OH Rep. Wenstrup Chair
Malliotakis Statement on HHS Debarment of Dr. Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance
Editor’s note: The following is part of the text of the letter sent to NIH by the Committee Chair Rep. Wenstrup of Ohio:
“Since I was entrusted with the Chairmanship of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, we have been dutifully living up to our charter and bringing accountability and transparency to the American people. This interim staff report, the second in our series, seeks to provide evidence and information regarding the government’s funding and lack of oversight of gain-of-function research, EcoHealth Alliance, Inc., and the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The Select Subcommittee has conducted the most thorough investigation into this topic to date. Without the support of the American people, these efforts would not have been possible.
The below report provides extensive evidence, including firsthand testimony and primary source documents. It is clear that EcoHealth and its President, Dr. Peter Daszak, acted with contempt for the American people. Further, EcoHealth’s actions were often enabled by the incompetency of the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. It is this contempt and incompetence that necessitates both Congressional and Administrative action.
In addition to other specific actions, the Select Subcommittee is making two primary recommendations, one to the Congress and one to the Administration:
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To the Congress: Reign in the unelected bureaucracy, especially within government funded public health. NIH and NIAID are no longer the trusted preeminent scientific institutions they once were. It is imperative upon us to establish more stringent guardrails, higher standards of oversight, and limit adversarial interference in our grant making processes.
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To the Administration: Recognize EcoHealth and its President, Dr. Daszak, as bad actors. This investigation establishes neither can be trusted with taxpayer funds. It is imperative upon the Administration to immediately begin suspension and debarment proceedings and ensure neither EcoHealth nor Dr. Daszak are awarded another cent, especially for dangerous and poorly monitored research.
This same report states the following about Dr. Fauci’s testimony to Senator Paul:
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many scientists and government officials categorically denied that taxpayer funds were used for gain-of-function research in Wuhan at the WIV. These assertions rested on semantics and the misapplication of understood definitions.
“On May 11, 2021, Dr. Fauci testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP).38 At this hearing, Senator Rand Paul (R–Ky.) asked Dr. Fauci if gain-of-function research was occurring with NIH funding at the WIV. Dr. Fauci categorically denied it three times…
“Dr. Fauci’s testimony was, at a minimum, misleading. As established above, at the time of Dr. Fauci’s testimony senior NIH officials and the NIH website defined gain-of-function research as “a type of research that modifies a biological agent so that it confers a new or enhanced activity to that agent.” Further, witness testimony and a plain reading of EcoHealth’s research conducted at the WIV using U.S. taxpayer dollars confirm it facilitated an experiment that conveyed new or enhanced activity to a pathogen—thus, satisfying the definition of gain-of-function research”
Staten Islander News also reported on Senator Rand Paul’s letter to 15 federal agencies who were aware of the irresponsible gain-of-function experiments run by EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute Of Virology.
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis was sworn in on January 3, 2021 to represent Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn. Prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis was elected to the New York State Assembly on November 2, 2010, defeating a two-term incumbent. In the Assembly, she served as Minority Whip and the ranking minority member of the Assembly Committee on Governmental Employees. For five terms, Congresswoman Malliotakis fought to restore ethics in Albany, expand transit service in her district, improve programs for senior citizens, reform education and improve New York’s economic climate by reducing the tax burden on small businesses and residents. A cornerstone of her tenure was helping her community recover and rebuild following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In addition to advocating for these same issues in Washington, Congresswoman Malliotakis is acutely focused on securing New York’s fair share of federal mass transit funding, which would go towards expanding transportation services and easing traffic congestion, while also championing public safety by supporting our nation’s law enforcement officers. Congresswoman Malliotakis is the daughter of immigrants, her father from Greece and her mother a Cuban exile of the Castro dictatorship. She is currently the only Republican member representing New York City in Congress, representing a district spanning the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island. She is a passionate advocate for animal rights and the strengthening of animal cruelty laws, and in her spare time, enjoys spending time with her chihuahua, Peanut.
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