Tor Project distributes binaries, though. So it's not unreasonable to immediately hop on a flight to leave the country permanently. Once they hand you a national security letter (or use some other leverage), not sure what effective recourse you have. I think it would be like dodging service in a lawsuit (which can work).
I'd do it.
What non-content information could they have wanted from her?
You can't NSL "how does TOR work?" or "give me the encryption keys to X."
What an NSL can do is say "give me a list of emails sent by XYZ@yourdomain.com" and you aren't allowed to tell anyone.
What verifiable evidence do you have that no NSLs have been issued demanding encryption keys, or that all such NSLs have been successfully challenged in court?
Probably the fact that that simply isn't what NSLs are for.
Encryption keys are most definitely "content".
For foreign companies, they sent the black bag operators of CIA or ISA to get job done. ISA is an interesting outfit to have coming after you or your data.
So, she could legally be compelled to do something disuptive to catch criminals like Feds do all the time in physical spaces (esp hotels). Thing is, leaving to avoid that might put her at risk of what's used outside jurisdiction. Fleeing was a bad move.