The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has debarred the president of EcoHealth Alliance, which was coordinating with Dr. Anthony Fauci to funnel gain-of-function virus research money to a laboratory in Wuhan, China.

Fauci was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, and was chief medical advisor to the president from 2021 to 2022.

After an eight-month investigation, the agency cut off all funding and formally debarred EcoHealth and its former president, Dr. Peter Daszak, for five years, based on evidence uncovered by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Debarment is a legal action that prevents a person or entity from working with the government.

In a new letter, HHS states “that a period of debarment for Dr. Daszak is necessary to protect the Federal Government’s business interests.” This letter also confirms that EcoHealth terminated Daszak’s employment effective Jan. 6, 2025.

EcoHealth and Daszak facilitated research in Wuhan, China without proper oversight and willingly violated multiple requirements of its multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health grant. Gain-of-function research enables a pandemic-potential pathogen to replicate more quickly and it poses a grave threat to humanity or animals.

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer issued the following statement in response to the formal debarment:

“Justice for the American people was served today. 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.

“In May 2024, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup released evidence that EcoHealth repeatedly violated the terms of its NIH grant. EcoHealth routinely ignored government oversight requests, failed to report dangerous gain-of-function experiments conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and produced a required research report two years late. HHS cited all of these discoveries as key reasons for formally debarring EcoHealth and Dr. Daszak. Given that a lab-related incident involving gain-of-function research is the most likely origin of COVID-19, EcoHealth and its former President should never again receive a single cent from the U.S. taxpayer.”

According to Must Read Alaska health writer Linda Boyle, these the key takeaways from the hearing last May with Fauci, according to the House Oversight Committee’s own summary:

• Dr. Fauci showed no remorse for the millions of lives affected by his divisive rhetoric and his unscientific policies. He did not apologize to the thousands of Americans who lost their jobs because they refused the novel vaccine, nor did he apologize to children experiencing severe learning loss as a result of actions he promoted.
• Dr. Fauci confirmed that his Senior Advisor — Dr. David Morens — violated official NIH policies and potentially broke federal law. Evidence obtained by the Select Subcommittee suggests that Dr. Morens deliberately obstructed the Select Subcommittee’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19, unlawfully deleted federal COVID-19 records, and shared nonpublic information about National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant processes with his “best-friend” EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. (EcoHealth) President Dr. Peter Daszak.
• Dr. Fauci maintained his misleading claim that the NIH never funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China. In 2021, he told Sen. Rand Paul that “the NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” During yesterday’s hearing, Dr. Fauci doubled down on his previous claim by stating “the NIH did not fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.” Notably, former Acting NIH Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak told the Select Subcommittee recently that the NIH did, in fact, fund gain-of-function research in Wuhan.
• Dr. Fauci agreed with the Select Subcommittee that EcoHealth and its president, Dr. Peter Daszak, should never again receive a single cent from the U.S. taxpayer. Two weeks after the Select Subcommittee released evidence of EcoHealth’s contempt for the American people, its flagrant disregard for the risks associated with gain-of-function research, and its willful violation of the terms of its NIH grant, the Department of Health and Human Services commenced formal debarment proceedings against the organization and its president.
• Dr. Fauci corrected his previous testimony that his staff did not possess conflicts of interest. During his transcribed interview he claimed, “the only people that I am involved with is my own staff, who we’ve mentioned many times in this discussion, who don’t have a conflict of interest.” During yesterday’s hearing, he changed his tune testifying that Dr. Morens “definitely had a conflict of interest.”
• Dr. Fauci publicly acknowledged that the lab leak hypothesis was possible and not a conspiracy theory. Yesterday, he told Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that he falsely claimed that he has kept an “open mind” about the origins of the pandemic. This comes nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous “Proximal Origin” paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab leak hypothesis.
• Read the letter from HHS to Dr. Peter Daszak here.
• Read the letter from HHS to EcoHealth Alliance Inc. here.
• Read HHS’s Action Referral Memorandum for Dr. Peter Daszak here.
• Read HHS’s Action Referral Memorandum for EcoHealth Alliance Inc. here.