USAID watchdog still probing EcoHealth as prosecutions stall

EcoHealth Alliance (EHA), the New York City-based nonprofit at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic research scandal, has thus far escaped criminal charges despite evidence it double-billed the government. Federal prosecutors under President Donald Trump earlier this year declined prosecution after letting a statute of limitations expire, according to interviews and documents reviewed by Just the News.

But the United States' Agency for International Development's (USAID) Inspector General's office continues to investigate EHA, leaving one avenue open for accountability, an official told Just the News.

“The expansive evidence collected by law enforcement officials will greatly support pursuing accountability for EcoHealth and any of its affiliates that have brazenly defrauded American taxpayers,” the official said.

The USAID IG first began investigating EHA in late 2022, after receiving information alleging that the organization had billed both USAID and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for related or identical work performed by Chinese Scientists working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, where the 2020 coronavirus is believed to have originated.

In March 2023, while still working at CBS, investigative reporter Catherine Herridge reported on the issue. She spoke with Diane Cutler, who now works for the State Department, but at the time was a former federal investigator.

"What I've found so far is evidence that points to double billing, potential theft of government funds. It is concerning, especially since it involves dangerous pathogens and risky research," Cutler said at the time.

Cutler told CBS that she had reviewed more than 50,000 documents and found evidence that USAID and NIH each  paid for aspects of projects conducted at the Wuhan Institute. Later that year, the USAID IG and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) IG began a joint investigation into the double-billing allegations, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

The investigation found that in under two years, China-based scientists working off those grants repeatedly charged the same expenses to both USAID and NIH.

Though EHA and its president, Peter Daszak, denied the allegations, the investigation would eventually lead to an indictment of Dr. David Morens, a top adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who championed gain-of-function research in Wuhan and was the chief architect of the United States' coronavirus response, which has been widely reviewed as a failure. 

Daszak and Gerald Keusch, former associate director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory Institute at Boston University, were listed as co-conspirators in the indictment, Just the News previously reported.

Morens pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy charges relating to a scheme to conceal communications about coronavirus research grants from Freedom of Information Act requests – particularly those pertaining to EcoHealth Alliance, Just the News reported.

In January, the House Oversight Committee announced that it had debarred EHA and Daszak for five years.

“Justice for the American people was served today," House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer said at the time. "Bad actor EcoHealth Alliance and its corrupt former President, Dr. Peter Daszak, were formally debarred by HHS for using taxpayer funds to facilitate dangerous gain-of-function research in China. Today’s decision is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide."

Yet, no other indictments have come. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) allegedly received the evidence contained in the joint HHS/USAID IG report but declined to prosecute earlier this year because the tolling agreement – a written contract that pauses the statute of limitations to allow parties to reach a settlement – was about to expire.

The SDNY office declined to comment.

The case was also allegedly presented to the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, which also declined to prosecute. The DOJ did not respond to a Just the News inquiry prior to press time.