No, I don’t trust them to tell the truth. I trust them to look out for their own agenda, by being careful not say things that will quickly backfire on them, on a topic that is current under very close scrutiny. If the information was of a type that one could expect them to quickly produce hard evidence on, I’d be very suspicious if the evidence wasn’t provided. However, they are not at liberty to publicize details of the family’s bank records, and cannot force the school to release a type of documentation that is almost certainly subject to written confidentiality agreements, and that schools don’t normally release for any reason unless they get a subpoena for it.
And I am not confident that the tuition-related info coming out of Reid’s office is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth — just confident that the family was not paying the cash sticker price for their kids to attend the school. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if there are some relevant side arrangements (e.g. perhaps the grandparents have done some sort of deferred giving arrangement to the school, and this was a significant factor in the kids being awarded a substantial financial aid package).
IF the grandparents are giving the school money and then the school “gives” a scholarship to the kids, is that Kosher with the IRS since the donation from the GPs would be Tax Deductible.