Former National Institutes of Health (NIH) employee Margaret Moore declined to answer questions from Fox News and invoked her Fifth Amendment right during a deposition before a House COVID-19 subcommittee, facing accusations of shielding emails from public scrutiny.
Former National Institutes of Health (NIH) employee Margaret Moore declined to answer questions from Fox News and invoked her Fifth Amendment right during a deposition before a House COVID-19 subcommittee, facing accusations of shielding emails from public scrutiny.
Moore, a former Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) public liaison for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was subpoenaed by the subcommittee to testify about her alleged role in assisting others to evade federal recordkeeping laws and use personal emails to avoid FOIA requests.
FOIA Controversy: Former NIAID Official Refuses to Answer Questions, Invoked Fifth Amendment
Before entering the deposition, Moore declined to answer questions from Fox News reporter Chad Pergram. The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic issued the subpoena for Moore's testimony on Monday.
Ohio Congressman Brad Wenstrup, chairman of the subcommittee, accused Moore of obstructing transparency and accountability by allegedly assisting in the deletion of COVID-19 records. He said her alleged scheme warranted a thorough investigation.
FOIA Controversy: Former NIAID Official Refuses to Answer Questions, Invoked Fifth Amendment
Moore's legal team defended her decision to abstain from testifying, stating that she had been willing to assist the investigation through alternative means. They claimed she had expedited her own FOIA request for her documents and voluntarily provided them to the subcommittee.
Moore worked for NIAID for over three decades and served as a special assistant to Dr. Anthony Fauci. She is accused of instructing other NIAID members on methods to conceal records and avoid FOIA requests.
FOIA Controversy: Former NIAID Official Refuses to Answer Questions, Invoked Fifth Amendment
An email sent by Fauci senior advisor Dr. David Morens in February 2021 from his personal Gmail account revealed his knowledge of tactics to make emails disappear and delete them before FOIA requests.
The subcommittee seeks access to materials that could provide insights into the NIH's connections with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), believed to be the origin of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019.
FOIA Controversy: Former NIAID Official Refuses to Answer Questions, Invoked Fifth Amendment
Additional emails obtained from May 2021 indicate that the NIH general counsel instructed the FOIA office to withhold any information related to EcoHealth Alliance, which collaborated with the WIV in research projects.
The subcommittee's investigation aims to uncover potential conflicts of interest or inappropriate actions between government agencies and institutions involved in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Moore's refusal to answer questions and her invocation of the Fifth Amendment have raised concerns about the transparency and accountability of the NIH and the potential obstacles faced by the subcommittee in its investigation.
