There's nothing you can really trust. Everyone has some interest or other. Ontop of that the things people consider essential don't always turn out to merit the emphasis (Norden bombsight eg?)

I think there's historical evidence that the US used bribery to get aircraft sold in the distant past and no doubt other countries have too so it would be odd to think that political and other pressures are now suddenly non-existent because we're better human beings than before.

You cannot really even trust pilots because they will want Raybans and iPhones even when the cheaper generic sunglasses and phones do the job. They are only the top of the pyramid of people that have to look after the system.