Why is there a gag order on Haleigh's biological mother regarding her health?
They are holding her child hostage so they are the Master, she is the Slave.
As a survivor of decades within bureaucracies, I see the self protection of a bureaucrat as the expected reaction.
(Not that there is anything wrong with bureaucrats......)
The first order of business for an ingrained bureaucrat is to protect him/herself and their environment. That is primal, meaning they protect themselves first at all costs they can imagine. They will do so in the face of such incredible evidence against them, it would embarrass a rat.
So the reaction is not specific to this situation, but to any where they try to protect themselves from their own screw-ups.