U.S. government agencies may have been double billed for projects in Wuhan, China, records indicate; probe launched

The U.S. authorities might have made duplicate funds for initiatives at labs in Wuhan, China, via the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH) and U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID), in keeping with information reviewed by CBS Information. 
 
“What I’ve discovered thus far is proof that factors to double billing, potential theft of presidency funds. It’s regarding, particularly because it entails harmful pathogens and dangerous analysis,” mentioned Diane Cutler, a former federal investigator with over 20 years of expertise combating white-collar crime and healthcare fraud. 
 
Cutler discovered proof of potential double funds as she investigated U.S. authorities grants that supported excessive threat analysis in China main as much as the COVID-19 pandemic. She was employed by Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who took her information to USAID and the inner watchdog at USAID, which launched a brand new probe, particulars of which haven’t been beforehand reported. 

Cutler mentioned she has considered over 50,000 paperwork, and that the U.S. authorities might have made duplicate funds for potential medical provides, tools, journey and salaries. 
 
Sources informed CBS Information that tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} may very well be concerned. 
 
Sources accustomed to the grant information didn’t dispute CBS Information’ reporting. 
 
A spokesperson for USAID declined to remark. A USAID inspector normal spokesperson declined to remark “on the existence of a selected open investigation.” The press workplace for NIH didn’t reply to CBS Information’ questions. 

After our broadcast, Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance wrote to CBS Information to say that “allegations [in our report] about double billing and potential theft of presidency funds are simply refuted.”  He mentioned “the whole quantity of the grants” we referred to in our reporting “have been a fraction of the sums cited by” our sources, and that the work “didn’t contain harmful pathogens and dangerous analysis.” EcoHealth Alliance is one entity that has performed U.S.-funded coronavirus analysis in Wuhan, China. 

The USAID inspector normal’s investigation is ongoing. Sources informed CBS Information the investigation of potential double-billing may take at the very least six months to conclude. 

Marshall is now calling for a 9/11-style fee. 
 
“I feel there’s 1.1 million causes that American taxpayers ought to care,” he mentioned. “You may have a aircraft [crash]… we need to discover out why the aircraft crashes. We go to any lengths to do this. And the hope is we do not have one other aircraft crash for a similar motive.” 
 
Whereas intelligence businesses haven’t been capable of attain a consensus on the origin of the pandemic, the FBI and Power Division have discovered an unintended lab leak is believable. The Wuhan Institute of Virology performed viral analysis within the metropolis the place the SARS-CoV-2 virus first emerged. 
 
Throughout a current congressional hearing relating to the origins of COVID-19, the Home voted unanimously on a invoice ordering the declassification of intelligence concerning the origins. Robert Redfield, the previous director of the CDC, testified that cash from the NIH, the State Division, USAID and the Protection Division supplied funding for high-risk virus analysis in Wuhan. 

Editor’s notice: Graphics within the video have been up to date and the net model of this report has been up to date to incorporate a remark about our report by Peter Daszak of EcoHealth Alliance.

Catherine Herridge

Catherine Herridge is a senior investigative correspondent for CBS Information masking nationwide safety and intelligence based mostly in Washington, D.C.