n a striking revelation, former federal investigator Diane Cutler has uncovered evidence that suggests the U.S. government may have made duplicate payments for projects at laboratories in Wuhan, China.
These payments, funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), went to support high-risk research in China leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the American taxpayers footing the bill, this latest scandal exposes the potential misuse of government funds and raises concerns about the oversight of dangerous pathogens and risky research.
Cutler, a seasoned investigator with over two decades of experience in combating white-collar crime and healthcare fraud, reviewed over 50,000 documents during her investigation. She found that the U.S. government may have made duplicate payments for medical supplies, equipment, travel, and salaries.
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas, who hired Cutler, has taken these findings to USAID, prompting a new investigation into the matter.
As Sen. Marshall put it, “I think there’s 1.1 million reasons that American taxpayers should care.” He likened the situation to a plane crash, saying that it’s crucial to understand the cause to prevent future crashes. “We go to any lengths to do that. And the hope is we don’t have another plane crash for the same reason.”
The implications of these findings reach beyond financial misconduct. Although intelligence agencies have yet to reach a consensus on the origin of the pandemic, the FBI and Energy Department have found an accidental lab leak is plausible.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology, which conducted viral research in the city where the SARS-CoV-2 virus first emerged, has been a focus of scrutiny.
During a recent congressional hearing on the origins of COVID-19, the House voted unanimously on a bill ordering the declassification of intelligence about the origins.
Robert Redfield, the former director of the CDC, testified that money from the NIH, the State Department, USAID, and the Defense Department provided funding for high-risk virus research in Wuhan.
This shocking news of potential duplicate payments and the misuse of taxpayer dollars warrants immediate attention. As the world continues to grapple with the ongoing pandemic, it’s crucial for the American people to demand accountability from their government and ensure that proper oversight is maintained in the future.