Those were good "if-then" propositions. And it's interesting that you would say those things. Since I've never seen you get behind anything with even the faintest odor of tinfoil to it, I have to give your opinion extra credence here. But about the communications between Houston and the orbiter, wouldn't they have a channel with voice encryption, spread spectrum and hidden off on a frequency that was unlikely to be monitored (for holding "sensitive" discussions)?
Boot
It's possible. There is, for example, a separate and private channel that's used for "personal medical conferences." In my experience (9 years in Mission Control), Air/Ground discussion of anomalies always goes out in the clear. In addition, NASA has always been brutally honest about anomalies.
From personal experience, and the experience of others who have worked with Ron Dittemore, you can trust what he says.