They aren't respectable scientists, first of all, and second, they're shills because of the definition of the word "shill", which you probably should go and look up.
This breaks the HN guidelines. Please remain civil, regardless of how wrong someone else is.
I know what the word shill means, and your inverse variant of red-baiting isn't very effective. Simply taking money from some group does not mean you are a shill for that group.