Utah News Dispatch
As doctor accused of falsifying vaccine records goes to trial, Utah House speaker voices support
The Orrin G. Hatch United States Courthouse is pictured in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (McKenzie Romero/Utah News Dispatch)
As the trial begins for Dr. Michael Kirk Moore, a Utah plastic surgeon accused of issuing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards while destroying the medication, dozens gathered in front of the Orrin G. Hatch federal courthouse in Salt Lake City in Moore’s support. Among them was Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, who called the charges a case of federal overreach.
Between October 2021 and September 2022, federal prosecutors say Moore and some members of his staff destroyed more than $28,000 worth of government-provided COVID-19 vaccines and distributed at least 1,937 fraudulent vaccination cards without administering a vaccine in exchange for cash or required donations, according to a 2023 U.S. Attorney’s Office news release and court documents.
Moore also, at the request of parents, gave saline shots to minors so they would think they were receiving the vaccine, according to prosecutors.
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Moore and his codefendants face federal charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to convert, sell, convey, and dispose of government property; and the conversion, sale, conveyance, and disposal of government property and aiding and abetting.
While agents with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that Moore’s actions endangered the health of vulnerable populations, Monday’s rally attendees held signs that read “Dr. Moore is a hero, not a criminal,” and applauded the speakers as they spoke against the COVID-19 vaccines.
“The way those of us stood up and pushed back were treated was wrong. We were treated like second-class citizens if we didn’t get the shot, we didn’t get the vaccine,” Schultz told them. “Think about it for just a minute. You had to have a vaccine passport to walk down the streets and go into a shop, to go to a Jazz game, to go to a restaurant. That was unbelievable.”
Schultz wasn’t available for interviews on Monday, a spokesperson said.
Researchers from the University of Southern California and Brown University calculated that vaccines saved 2.4 million lives in 141 countries from the vaccines’ rollout through August 2021. Experts haven’t found evidence that the vaccines cause illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease or cancer, and there have been misleading assertions that vaccines could change DNA and false claims that spike proteins from vaccines are replacing sperm in vaccinated males, according to PolitiFact.
However, Utah Republican leaders have fought the Biden administration’s COVID-19 rules citing federal overreach.
The state joined a lawsuit in 2021 opposing vaccine mandates for federal contractors nationwide. And, after the federal government mandated that big companies require employees to either provide proof of vaccination or get weekly tests in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah lawmakers challenged the rule, passing legislation sponsored by Sen. Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, and Schultz during a special session to provide a vaccine exception for Utahns if they had a “conflict with a sincerely held personal belief.”
Years later, Schultz remains highly critical of the immunization efforts and reproved Dr. Angela Dunn, former state epidemiologist for Utah, and the administration of former Republican Gov. Gary Herbert.
“I’ll never forget Angela Dunn, she sat in the legislative office and told us that we were going to see 20,000 dead Utahns in a matter of months. That turned out to be false,” Schultz said. “The scare tactics that were used was unbelievable. Think about the executive orders that came out of the Herbert’s office, to take away your freedoms.”
Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, and former Republican state lawmaker Phil Lyman also showed up to the rally.
Schultz gave Moore a high-five as the doctor went up the courthouse steps for the first day in a 15-day trial.
After his Monday remarks, Schultz said in an interview with the Robert Scott Bell Show, an “alternative/holistic health care” advocacy online show, that if Moore is convicted, he will work with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration to try to get a pardon.
“Dr. Moore was on the right side of these things, and we appreciate him standing up,” Schultz said.
