Corruption in American academia isn't restricted to professors publishing cooked-up data on a regular basis, it's also seen in the funding structure of the major agencies, where insiders funnel grants to their loyal apparatchiks further down the feeding tree.

Really, anyone interested in this topic needs to start with a little dive into the procedures and practices of Trofim Lysenko within the Soviet Academic system (c.1925-1965). Everyone who supported Lysenko's theories got grants and promotions - those who didn't, exited the field.

A similar dynamic exists between advocates of active gain-of-funcdion research at the NIH and affiliates, and various funding decisions.