His unbiased opinion was clearly not that strong - he literally put the word "potentially" in parentheses in the first sentence you quoted. Then he specifically

His unbiased opinion was clearly not that strong - he literally put the word "potentially" in parentheses in the first sentence you quoted. Then he specifically said that his opinions could change because the analyses weren't done. Then his opinion changed. If this is the best evidence you could come up with that elites are telling experts to change their opinions and experts are acquiescing, it doesn't make for a strong case.