DOJ drops charges against Utah doctor accused of throwing away COVID vaccines, distributing fake vaccination cards
The Justice Department moved to dismiss charges against a Utah plastic doctor charged in connection with a COVID-19 fraud scheme, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Saturday.
Michael Kirk Moore Jr. and three of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2023 and accused of discarding more than $28,000 worth of government-provided COVID-19 vaccines and of distributing nearly two thousand fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards in exchange for cash or required “donations.”
The indictment also alleged that Moore and his associates administered saline shots to children, at the request of the parents, so the children would think they were receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
The trial began a week ago in Salt Lake City, but Bondi announced Saturday that the DOJ would dismiss the charges.
“At my direction @TheJusticeDept has dismissed charges against Dr. Kirk Moore,” Bondi wrote in a post on the social platform X.
“Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so,” she continued. “He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today.”
The case has become a rallying cry for many in the GOP, who have railed against the charges filed under the Biden administration.
The announcement also comes as Bondi has faced growing scrutiny by members of Trump’s right-wing base for her handling of the case related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The DOJ put out a memo on Monday concluding there was no so-called client list that Epstein kept to blackmail high-profile associates, refuting popular conspiracy theories suggesting otherwise. The memo also said there was no evidence to suggest foul play was involved in Epstein’s death, which had previously been ruled a suicide.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) thanked Bondi for “dropping the WRONGFUL charges against Dr. Kirk Moore,” whom Greene called "a hero who refused to inject his patients with a government mandated unsafe vaccine!”
“We can never again allow our government to turn tyrannical under our watch,” she continued. “Thankfully, as soon as I told Pam Bondi about Dr. Moore’s case she swiftly moved to drop the charges against him. This is a big win!”
Bondi acknowledged the role Greene played in the decision.
“This would not have been possible without @RepMTG who brought this case to my attention. She has been a warrior for Dr. Moore and for ending the weaponization of government,” Bondi wrote in a subsequent post on X.
She also thanked Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), saying on X he “has been a champion for advocating to end the weaponization of government, including to Dr. Moore.”