” A sixth grader could have done better.”
I suspect that the senior people who actually did the work had long been separated from the nuts and bolts of how things work. I believe they were managers who did this on their own so as not to involve lower level people because this was political and not about national security. Lower level people might have pointed out the ethical problems and, worse, have written them down thus providing a paper trail. (The lower level people get ethics training and a number to report their concerns to. Just one such report might have blown the whole conspiracy out the window.) I have seen this done in companies where the top level people are doing something nefarious, usually to enhance their bonus. But, they no longer know the details of how things work “now” and do foolish things that make their acts discoverable.