It’s occurred to me that many in the denialist base may believe these conspiracy claims at least in part because they assume the East Anglia CRU is the one and only significant source for the AGW case. That is, they have no idea how extensive and widespread the research is, or how many thousands of scientists and institutions have been working on it for decades. In truth, it would make little difference if we discovered that the CRU crew had invented their data from thin air during all-night drinking binges. There is that much more in the overall body of scientific work.
The same is probably true for any number of other antiscience conspiracy claims. For example, another example of this kind of ignorance might be found in the absurd strawman argument that the whole theory of evolution can be discredited simply by attacking Charles Darwin’s character, as though Darwin himself is a kind of cult figure and the sole source for belief in evolution.