Pentagon watchdog to audit $50M in US grants to Chinese research labs revealed by Sen. Joni Ernst

The Pentagon’s watchdog agency will audit more than $50 million in grants the US provided to Chinese pandemic pathogens research institutions between 2014 and 2023, The Post has learned, following a pressure campaign by Sen. Joni Ernst.

The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General informed Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) that it was formally investigating the funding to Chinese research labs or other nations “designed to enhance pathogens of pandemic potential,” a letter exclusively obtained by The Post shows.

“We will keep you apprised of our progress on this reporting requirement,” the letter from Inspector General Robert P. Storch reads, referencing an amendment put by the lawmakers into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

The audit covers any US taxpayer funding “used to fund research or experiments that could have reasonably resulted in the enhancement of any coronavirus, influenza, Nipah, Ebola, or other pathogen of pandemic potential or chimeric versions of such a virus or pathogen in the People’s Republic of China or any other foreign country” — money which Ernst accused the Pentagon of “blindly giving away.”

“The Department of Defense should defend the nation, not support research with the potential to do us harm,” she told The Post in a statement.

“While bureaucrats are blindly giving away taxpayer funds, China doesn’t even have to steal our research,” Ernst added. “It’s clear Americans deserve a detailed inventory of all the dangerous dollars sent overseas, which is why I’ve launched an investigation to track down every cent.”

The Iowa senator has also demanded answers from other federal agencies this year about US-funded research abroad on bird flu and other “high-risk pathogens.”

Ernst and Gallagher requested “a comprehensive review” of the defense grants in January — including those linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the controversial lab at the center of the origin debate over COVID-19.

“We may never get answers about what really happened in Wuhan from Dr. Fauci, EcoHealth or China, but this investigation enables us to pinpoint where another man-made pandemic could possibly originate and prevent that from happening,” Ernst said.

“As more evidence emerges that our own tax dollars are advancing the interests of our adversaries, it’s clear we need greater transparency and accountability of how, why, and especially where our money is going.”

In May 2023, Ernst’s office announced that a joint investigation with taxpayer watchdog OpenTheBooks found more than $490 million in US funds flowed to Chinese groups, companies and research organizations between 2017 and 2022, of which $51.6 million came from the Department of Defense.

The most high-profile of those grants went to the Manhattan-based EcoHealth Alliance, which secured more than $1.4 million in funding to conduct experiments on SARS-like viruses at the infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Reports have since shown that some of those Pentagon-backed researchers in China later shared sensitive information about advanced artificial intelligence initiatives with Beijing, according to Newsweek.

Read the rest of the story here: Pentagon watchdog to audit $50M US grants to Chinese research labs (nypost.com)

Eastern Shore MPO heading to DC to push I-10 Bridge project

FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WALA) - By Hal Scheurich - In an attempt to stress the importance of the I-10 Mobile River Bridge project to US Department of Transportation (USDOT) officials, members of the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization (ESMPO) are heading to DC next week. This comes during a 60-day pause in the project to explore cost-savings measures.

It’s a mega project that’s turning into one of mammoth proportions. Since cost estimates were first laid out, by some accounts they’ve increased by more than 50-percent, to somewhere between $2.8 and $3.5 billion dollars. The only financial commitments at this time include a $125-million-dollar INFRA Grant from the feds and an Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) commitment of $250 million, so the skyrocketing cost of labor and materials is a real concern.

“We want to impress upon USDOT the importance of you know, in the face of all these rising costs, how important the federal aid would be to this project,” ESMPO Chairman, Jack Burrell said after the group met on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

To do that, nearly every member of ESMPO will be heading to Washington DC to meet with federal highway officials on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. While ESMPO is committed to keeping proposed tolls where they are now, the hope is that additional federal dollars can be secured through grants or other means.

“We are applying for the Mega Grant. That’s up to five-hundred-million dollars,” Burrell said. “We’re also applying for a Bridge Grant which I think is also up to five-hundred-million dollars, so we’re going to continue to pursue these grants and while we’re doing so, we would like to just stay on USDOT’s radar. That’s what we’re doing. We’re going up there to put ourselves on their radar.”

To do this, Burrell said they must impress upon the feds the importance of the project.

“They’ve already deemed it, you know a project that’s worthy of attention, a project of significance. If we could take that up a level…and they’re not going to tell us while we’re there, but if they could, you know, if we could impress upon them the importance that they think it’s worthy of a grant and somehow, we could move it up on that list of grants, that would be a win,” Burrell explained.

The Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization won’t be making this trip, but Chairman Burrell said a future trip with just the chairmen of both groups is likely. While in DC, ESMPO also hopes to meet with some of Alabama’s US House and Senate representatives.

READ MORE: Eastern Shore MPO heading to DC to push I-10 Bridge project (fox10tv.com)