Former NIH Official Accused of Making Emails ‘Disappear’ Pleads Fifth to COVID Subcommittee
Former National Institutes of Health (NIH) employee Margaret Moore, accused by Republicans of helping others shield emails from the public, invoked her Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination at a deposition before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on October 4, 2024.
Moore, a former FOIA public liaison for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), declined to answer questions from Fox News in the hallway before the committee meeting. The committee issued a subpoena for Moore to appear, citing her alleged scheme to help NIH officials delete COVID-19 records and use their personal emails to avoid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), stated that Moore’s actions are “appalling and deserve a thorough investigation”. Moore’s legal team has defended her right to abstain from testifying, claiming she has cooperated with the investigation via alternative means, including expediting her own FOIA request for her own documents.
