Wuhan double dipping eyed

The federal government may have paid twice for grants it doled out to fund research at labs in Wuhan, China, according to a newly launched federal probe that found tens of millions of dollars in potentially fraudulent payments.

The “risky” projects bankrolled by the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for International Development would have helped pay for medical supplies, equipment, travel expenses and salaries at the Wuhan labs, according to CBS News on Monday.

Among them was the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where American taxpayers funded controversial gain-off-unction research on bat coronaviruses that federal officials now admit may have led to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diane Cutler, an investigator hired by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), first discovered the allegedly fraudulent funding from NIH and USAID, and her findings prompted a probe by an inspector general.

“What I’ve found so far is evidence that points to double billing,” Cutler, who said she reviewed 50,000 documents on the matter, told “CBS News Mornings.”

“It is concerning, especially since it involves dangerous pathogens and risky research.”

The network cited anonymous sources who did not dispute the report and said “tens of millions of dollars could be involved.”

Neither USAID nor an acting general counsel for its inspector general’s office responded to requests for comment.

“I think there’s 1.1 million reasons that American taxpayers should care” about the funding, Marshall, who wants a 9/11-style commission on the findings, told CBS.

The probe comes as two federal agencies — the FBI and Energy Department — have found the coronavirus pandemic most likely originated from a Wuhan lab leak.