COVID origins: HHS suspends EcoHealth Alliance grants after finding taxpayer funds used in risky research

The Department of Health and Human Services implemented an immediate, government-wide suspension on all funds allocated to EcoHealth Alliance – a firm that used taxpayer funds to conduct gain of function research at the Wuhan lab before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

HHS made the decision, citing evidence included in the House COVID Select Subcommittee’s staff-level report on the nonprofit.

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According to HHS, EcoHealth willfully violated the terms of a multimillion-dollar National Institute of Health grant.

A spokesperson for EcoHealth Alliance told Fox News Digital that it is "disappointed by HHS' decision today and we will be contesting the proposed debarment."

"We disagree strongly with the decision and will present evidence to refute each of these allegations and to show that NIH's continued support of EcoHealth Alliance is in the public interest," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The House COVID subcommittee, reacting Wednesday, said those are "not the actions of an organization or an individual that should continue to receive taxpayer funds."

"EcoHealth Alliance and [EcoHealth President] Dr. Peter Daszak should never again receive a single penny from the U.S. taxpayer," committee Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, said in a statement Wednesday. "EcoHealth facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, without proper oversight, willingly violated multiple requirements of its multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health Grant and apparently made false statements to the NIH."

Wenstrup added that those actions are "wholly abhorrent, indefensible, and must be addressed with swift action."

"EcoHealth’s