I think h&c has done a lot for the forum and community over the years and is normally someone I would place a lot of trust in.

Lauda admits upthread his extortion attempt and the facts lauda has admitted to would allow any reasonable person with an understanding of the law to conclude lauda attempted to extort zeroaxel. The fact that no specific amount was asked for is not relevant. The fact that lauda did not receive any money only means his attempt was unsuccessful (his crime is attempted extortion instead of extortion).

Ignoring the above, lauda has a history of trolling those who question him and refuses to have a public discussion about any of his ratings. Even if his ratings were factually accurate (I believe many of them are not), many of his negative ratings are for things that no reasonable person would consider to be a scam. This alone is reason enough to question the integrity of anyone who puts lauda in a position of trust, and/or authority. I can post examples of this however I don't think this fact is really unknown to both of laudas default trust sponsors. If necessary I will post examples of this so neither of them can claim ignorance, however anything I post in this regard should be news to either hc or blazed.

There are other additional reasons why I believe lauda should not be in the default trust network, nor in any position of trust or authority, however this is not what this thread is about.

This might be an oversight or a bad judgment call that is forgivable on hc's part, provided it is quickly addressed. However I don't think anyone who puts someone that fits the above description in a position of trust or power should himself be in a position of trust, power or the authority to exercise his good judgment.