Biden Administration Doles Out $250K to Wuhan Lab-Linked GroupThe Biden administration awarded more than $250,000 to an organization whose founder waged a secret campaign last year to undercut the theory that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency granted $253,279 to EcoHealth Alliance in July to conduct research to thwart the use of viruses as weapons of mass destruction. EcoHealth Alliance worked closely with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab that many U.S. officials believe was ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak. The group's founder, Peter Daszak, secretly organized a group of scientists early in the pandemic to publicly undermine the theory that the pandemic sprung from a leak at the Wuhan lab.
The U.S. intelligence community is divided on whether the virus came from the lab or naturally spilled over from animals to humans. One intelligence agency assessed with moderate confidence that an accident at the Wuhan lab resulted in the first coronavirus infection, according to a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Four other intelligence agencies assessed with only low confidence that the first infection came through natural exposure. Though the lab-leak theory was widely dismissed in 2020, a growing number of scientists now say it is the most likely explanation for the outbreak.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which operates within the Defense Department, has awarded $37 million to EcoHealth since 2013, though the July grant was the first given during the Biden administration. The Trump and Biden administrations have investigated whether the Chinese government covered up evidence of a 2019 lab accident at the Wuhan Institute that may have caused the pandemic. Republicans in Congress have called for investigations into EcoHealth Alliance’s relationship with the Wuhan Institute..............
https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/biden-administration-doles-out-250k-to-wuhan-lab-linked-group/
