USAID Inspector General Continues Probe of EcoHealth Alliance Amid Stalled Criminal Cases

Federal investigators have spent years building a case that EcoHealth Alliance, a taxpayer-funded nonprofit, billed both USAID and the National Institutes of Health for identical research performed by Chinese scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Although evidence points to double-billing and the use of funds for risky pathogen work, prosecutors under the Trump administration allowed the statute of limitations to run, leaving the organization without criminal charges.

The USAID Inspector General opened its investigation in late 2022 after receiving allegations of the dual billing and says the expansive evidence will aid future accountability actions. A joint probe by USAID and the Department of Health and Human Services found that China-based researchers repeatedly charged the same expenses to both agencies. That investigation resulted in an indictment of David Morens, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, and listed Peter Daszak and Gerald Keusch as co-conspirators, though no further indictments have followed.

In January, the House Oversight Committee barred EcoHealth and Daszak from receiving federal funds for five years, a move praised by Chairman James Comer. The Southern District of New York and the DOJ’s Antitrust Division have both declined to bring charges, leaving the case unresolved.