BREAKING: 'FOIA Lady' plans to plead Fifth after Wenstrup announces subpoena for her testimony

Ms. Margaret Moore, a senior fellow in the NIH's FOIA office, is said to have taught NIAID officials how to “make emails disappear.”

WASHINGTON – Today, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) announced a subpoena to compel Ms. Margaret Moore – known as the “FOIA Lady” of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). , to appear for a deposition October 4, 2024. Documents indicate that Ms. Moore was involved in a conspiracy to teach officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) how to use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA ) and avoid public transparency related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Moore's lawyer has informed the select subcommittee that his client plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination during deposition on Friday.

Earlier this year the Select Subcommittee released evidence that Dr. Anthony Fauci's Senior Advisor at NIAID – Dr. David Morens – deleted federal COVID-19 records and used his personal email account to circumvent FOIA. Dr. Morens wrote on two separate occasions from his personal email account: “I learned the tricks last year from an old friend, Marg Moore, who runs our FOIA office and also hates FOIAs” And “I learned how to make emails disappear from our Foia lady here.“This email correspondence appears to implicate Ms. Moore in the unlawful actions of Dr. implicating Morens and raises serious questions about her involvement in a potentially larger conspiracy to hide information from the American people.

Although the Select Subcommittee worked in good faith to obtain voluntary testimony from Ms. Moore, she repeatedly resisted these efforts and delayed the Select Subcommittee's investigation. Today's subpoena is necessary to uncover the truth about NIH's data retention policies and to hold Ms. Moore accountable for any role she played in advising NIH employees to obstruct federal law.

“Instead of using the NIH's FOIA office to ensure the transparency and accountability the American people deserve, it appears that “FOIA Lady” Margaret Moore has supported efforts to circumvent federal records laws. Their alleged plan to help NIH officials delete COVID-19 records and use their personal emails to avoid FOIA is appalling and deserves a thorough investigation. Holding Ms. Moore accountable for every role she has played in undermining the American trust is a step toward improving the lack of accountability and transparency that is rapidly spreading across many agencies of our federal government. The Select Subcommittee is working tirelessly to ensure that federal health officials are never again unaccountable to the American people or feel empowered to intentionally undermine our elected government,, said Chairman Wenstrup.

Read the Select Subcommittee's cover letter to NIH “FOIA Lady” Margaret Moore here and the subpoena here.

Read Ms. Moore's attorney's letter to the select subcommittee here.