I dont agree that this has influence on hilariousandco's moderation work, but Im in support of an open discussion regarding the trusted status of Lauda.
If hilariousandco is putting an extortionist in a position of power and authority publicly, then how can we trust him to take moderation actions that are, by definition anonymous?
Hilariousandco is one of the last few effective moderators.
His trust list has no relation to his functioning as a moderator.
This relates to his ability to be trusted. As a global moderator, hilariousandco is trusted to make judgement calls anonymously every day. If many bad judgment calls are made, then it will probably stick out and theymos will see, however if a judgment call is made as a result of less than above-board reasons, then any dispute will be nothing more than he-said, she-said speculation.