Moore, a former FOIA public liaison for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), also declined to answer questions from Fox News in the hallway before the committee meeting.

The commission issued a summons Monday for Moore to appear.

“Instead of using the NIH FOIA office to provide the transparency and accountability the American people deserve, it appears that ‘FOIA Lady’ Margaret Moore has supported efforts to circumvent federal record keeping laws ” said Representative Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, chairman of the subcommittee.

THE ALLEGED DESTRUCTION OF COVID ORIGIN DOCUMENTS BY FAUCI ADVISOR SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY AG: RAND PAUL

Former NIH employee Margaret Moore declined to answer questions from Fox News’ Chad Pergram ahead of her testimony before the House COVID-19 subcommittee. (Fox News/Reuters)

He added: “Her alleged scheme to help NIH officials delete COVID-19 data and use their personal emails to avoid FOIA is appalling and deserves a thorough investigation.”

Moore’s legal team has defended her right not to testify, claiming the former NIH employee has been willing to support the investigation through alternative means.

“Ms. Moore, through counsel, has worked with the Select Subcommittee to find an alternative to her participation in an interview, including expediting her own FOIA request for her own documents, which she voluntarily provided to the Select Subcommittee” , her legal team wrote.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is sworn in before testifying before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

HOUSE COVID COMMITTEE CALLS FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO GAIN-OF-FUNCTION VIRUS RESEARCH IN WUHAN

READ THE LETTER SUBMITTED TO THE COVID SUBCOMMITTEE BY MOORE’S LAWYERS – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

Moore worked for NIAID for more than three decades and at one point served as a special assistant to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

She is accused of teaching other NIAID members “tricks” to hide data and evade FOIA requests.

“I learned from our foia lady here how to make emails disappear after I’m foiad, but before the search begins,” wrote Fauci senior advisor Dr. David Morens in an email sent from his personal Gmail account in February 2021. “Plus I deleted most of those earlier emails after sending them to Gmail.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

A building on the campus of the National Institutes of Health is shown in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Newsmakers)

The material sought by the COVID subcommittee would provide insight into the NIH’s relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is widely believed to be the origin of the 2019 coronavirus.

Other emails obtained from May 2021 show the NIH general counsel warning the FOIA office “not to release anything related to EcoHealth Alliance/WIV,” with “WIV” referring to the Wuhan Institute.