Lawmakers press Pentagon watchdog on federal funds to COVID-linked Wuhan lab

Two key lawmakers are pressing for more answers as the Pentagon inspector general prepares to investigate funding of risky virus research in China, a probe mandated under the defense authorization law signed last month by President Biden.

Amid questions about China’s handling of the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019 and early 20202, a section of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act calls on the IG to determine the amount of defense funds provided to institutions in China that carried out research on pathogens with pandemic potential.

“A comprehensive review of these matters is crucial for identifying potential national security threats that could result either from Pentagon procurement of technology from Chinese companies or dangerous experiments being conducted in foreign laboratories with substandard safety conditions,” Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mike Gallagher wrote in a letter to Robert P. Storch, the Pentagon IG.

Ms. Ernst, Iowa Republican, is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Mr. Gallagher, Wisconsin Republican, chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Reishia Kelsey, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon IG, said her office is aware of the new legal provision. “We will begin the requested review shortly,” she said in a statement.

According to Ms. Ernst, Iowa Republican, and Mr. Gallagher, Wisconsin Republican, the U.S. grants and contracts to organizations in China amounted to more than $490 million since 2017, including an estimated $51.6 million in defense funds.

“This may be just the tip of the iceberg of the taxpayer dollars from [the Defense Department]  and other government agencies, contractors and grantees being floated to China,” Ms. Ernst and Mr. Gallagher stated.

The new law gives the IG six months to investigate and report to Congress on Pentagon funds spent in China or received by a Chinese Communist Party-linked organization, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, considered by U.S. intelligence to be a potential source for the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding probe also will determine how much was spent at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and at the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, which has engaged in extensive virus research in Wuhan.

Other Chinese government groups that received U.S. funds include the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which U.S. experts say are involved in conducting biological weapons research.

According to the two lawmakers’ letter, research and experiments funded by U.S. money included the enhancement of coronaviruses, influenza, the Nipah and Ebola viruses and other pathogens that have the potential of setting off a pandemic.

Congress’ Government Accountability Office stated in a report last year that it was nearly impossible to determine the amount of taxpayer dollars paid to Chinese institutes because of poor U.S. government tracking systems.

The letter also accused EcoHealth Alliance of attempting to deceive the Pentagon regarding plans to divert defense funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to support “risky research.”

The State Department, based on U.S. intelligence information, stated in a January 2021 report that the WIV worked on biological projects with the Chinese military, including animal experiments since 2017.

The WIV has denied working with the Chinese military and has asserted it is a purely civilian research facility. Chinese officials also have denied the lab was responsible for a leak — accidental or otherwise — of the COVID-19 virus.

Ms. Ernst and Mr. Gallagher said a grant proposal to the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency by EcoHealth Alliance in 2018 outlined plans to engineer coronaviruses to be more infectious to humans. The proposal, according to investigators, did not reveal plans for the experiments to be conducted at Wuhan.

“While DOD did not approve funding for EcoHealth’s research at the Wuhan Institute, the Pentagon has given over $47 million to the organization since 2008 — more than any other federal agency,” the lawmakers said.

“Through intentional withholding of information or legal loopholes, EcoHealth successfully concealed spending more than $1 million of U.S. taxpayer money on risky research on bat coronaviruses in China’s Wuhan Institute for Virology, from where the virus that caused COVID-19 likely leaked according to U.S. intelligence experts.”

EcoHealth Alliance did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on the IG probe.

The IG review of Chinese funding is not limited to a single group or institution, since the case of EcoHealth shows that government grant requirements and restrictions can be easily circumvented with little accountability, they said.

“American taxpayers deserve to know: How many U.S. defense dollars are going to China, purposely or inadvertently, and for what purposes? Is any being sent under the radar because it is not being tracked or reported? How much is the Pentagon providing to support projects involving pathogens of pandemic potential and where are those taking place?” Ms. Ernst and Mr. Gallagher stated.

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.