Trusting the experts worked pretty well in this case.Governing by the "You can't handle the truth" method. It never seems to go out of style. The "trust the experts" crowd loves it as much as they hate thinking critically.
You just need to remember that the expert is the researcher, not the government official.
(Works for hurricane forecasts, too. If the researcher says it will move north, and a politician says it will move west, trust the researcher.)