Taxpayers paid for the creation of the Covid-19 virus through USAID

During a U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, Senate DOGE Caucus Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) exposed millions of dollars of waste at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She highlights USAID’s wasteful spending (e.g., $20 million for Sesame Street in Iraq, $9 million to Syrian terrorists, $68,000 for dance classes in Wuhan), its secrecy in funding WIV research, the successful defunding of EcoHealth Alliance, and her proposed TRACS Act and Stop Secret Spending Act with Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). She asks Shellenberger why USAID is so secretive, mirroring your text exactly.

Senator Joni Ernst:
"By law, all federal spending is required to be publicly available on usaspending.gov. We've known for a while that Dr. Fauci used NIH funding to finance bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but it took the watchdog White Coat Waste Project to expose evidence that USAID was funding it too. In fact, the bulk of the money came from USAID.

Yet no grants to the Chinese lab appeared on usaspending.gov. It was hidden from the public through layers of unreported subgrants and subawards. Thankfully, my push to defund EcoHealth Alliance was successful, and the group is now barred from receiving U.S. government grants.

But this is why my TRACS Act must become law. To prevent money being sent to China, the Taliban, or any other foreign adversary, every grant recipient must be disclosed to ensure accountability, and we shouldn't stop there. My bipartisan Stop Secret Spending Act, introduced with ranking member Peters, would add additional transparency to federal spending.

So Mr. Schellenberger, I'll start with you please. Why is USAID so secretive about how it spends billions of taxpayer dollars? Is it to avoid the public outrage over the waste or is there something more nefarious there?"

Mr. Schellenberger:
"Well, thank you, Senator. And first of all, thank you for your leadership in bringing transparency and accountability to aid and the funding there. Obviously, this example you just gave of the Wuhan Institute of Virology is incredible. I mean, the fact it appears that the U.S. government funded the creation of the virus that caused the global pandemic".

For the full testimony:
https://theiowastandard.com/ernst-exposes-more-jaw-dropping-wasteful-foreign-aid-at-usaid/

#USAID #DOGE #COVID #Transparency #JoniErnst #MichaelShellenberger #WuhanLab #EcoHealth #SenateHearing #GovernmentWaste #LabLeak #TRACSAct