Congress Demands Answers From Scientist With Close Ties to China, Fauci

Peter Daszak speaks to media upon arriving at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China's central Hubei province, on Feb. 3, 2021. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

A scientist with close ties to the Chinese laboratory located in the same city in which the first cases of COVID-19 appeared will be appearing before Congress to answer questions, top Republicans announced on April 4.

Peter Daszak, president of the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, is scheduled to answer questions in a public hearing on May 1. EcoHealth Alliance confirmed in a statement that Mr. Daszak is planning to testify.

The questioning will focus in part on a divergence between Mr. Daszak’s previous testimony to Congress and messages from him and colleagues unearthed late last year, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and other members said.

Mr. Daszak told members on Nov. 14, 2023, that risky experiments on coronaviruses proposed by EcoHealth were planned to be conducted at the University of North Carolina (UNC).

However, in comments on a draft of the proposal, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the nonprofit U.S. Right to Know, Mr. Daszak wrote that “once we get the funds, we can then allocate who does what exact work, and I believe that a lot of these assays can be done in Wuhan as well.”

Mr. Daszak’s group has previously funneled millions of dollars from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which was headed at the time by Dr. Anthony Fauci, to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The Chinese lab is situated in the same city that recorded the first cases of COVID-19, and some experts say available evidence indicates COVID-19 came from the lab.

In the unearthed materials, Mr. Daszak wrote that he was “trying to downplay the non-US focus of this proposal so that DARPA doesn’t see this as a negative.” The proposal was submitted to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which rejected it.

Members said Mr. Daszak’s comment “appears to be materially inconsistent with your testimony assuring the committees that the proposed work was planned to be done exclusively at UNC.”

They also said that Mr. Daszak testified behind closed doors that the scientists in Wuhan were using the same biosafety levels as those used in the United States. However, it was noted that recently published documents revealed a colleague of Mr. Daszak wrote about the risky work potentially being conducted under biosafety level 2 conditions, as opposed to the biosafety level 3 conditions that are standard domestically. “US researchers will likely freak out” if that were the case, Ralph Baric, a UNC researcher, wrote.

“The committees are alarmed at the divergence between your statements and ... comments in the DEFUSE draft. These revelations undermine your credibility as well as every factual assertion you made during your transcribed interview. The committees have a right and an obligation to protect the integrity of their investigations, including the accuracy of testimony during a transcribed interview. We invite you to correct the record,” Ms. Rodgers, chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and other members told Mr. Daszak.

EcoHealth Alliance said that the announcement by Congress included “several inaccurate allegations” about Mr. Daszak’s previous statements.

Mr. Daszak “looks forward to answering the committee’s questions, clarifying the areas of misunderstanding, and informing them about the vital research that EcoHealth Alliance conducts globally,” it said.

Another question the hearing might touch on is how EcoHealth Alliance failed to alert the government for nearly two years about the results of testing at the Wuhan lab, according to an inspector general. Experiments on a modified coronavirus resulted in a virus that became more potent, the results showed. Experts have said the results proved the U.S.-funded work met the commonly known definition of gain-of-function work, undercutting claims by Dr. Fauci and others.

EcoHealth Alliance has repeatedly defended its work, although it said it would accept recommendations from the inspector general for ensuring sub-awards are compliant with federal requirements.