They were fixing the data up until thrn, why would a few news articles that only a handful of inconsequential people remember stop them? There's a pretty common sense approach to tell whether they are telling the truth. Ask yourself, has their story changed? Is what they are claiming is happening ever changed? Have any of their prediction come to fruition?
I think it's possible that scientists fudged some numbers in an attempt to get people to believe what they believe. I could see a scientist making an end justifies the means decision like that. I don't think it would continue unopposed though. I also don't think they secretly believe the opposite of what they are telling you.
I've been thinking about it and maybe there's something to what religious types say about science being a religion too. Scientists understand how much bigger than them science really is. No one person will ever understand all of it, or even most of it. The best they can do is try to be aware of how much they
don't understand. I have faith in climate scientists.