"I'll let Tom weigh in here..."
I'll let Tom weigh in here with the obligatory "Well of course they do! The dollars would dry up if they said it wasn't happening!".
Well, think about it. True or false?
One can make a big mistake by assuming scientists don't have agendas. A scientist funded by an industry is automatically treated with suspicion, and his results often dismissed on that basis alone.
Another scientist funded by a politically-active foundation, by government money, or just one with his own political agenda, is usually treated as an objective source, without any suspicion at all. In fact, most people don't even bother to look into his funding sources.
Balance is all I'm looking for in this situation.