Turmoil for Drupal

I think the issue is that, if you allow secret evidence, you make it possible for unethical people to band together and carry things out, and the legitimacy of the process to come entirely down to whether 3rd parties would choose option 1 or option 2 as you've presented them.

That's a terrible process. It's extremely subvertible, without detection. Good people therefore wouldn't ask others to have to trust in such a process, for such a momentous decision (and to the person excommunicated, this was momentous).

Also, even good people can have biases that lead them astray. Firstly, the bias may lead them into making some poor decision. Second, self-justification biases may then lead them to defend a bad decision no matter what, because of the implications to themselves and their standing if they were to concede it was a bad decision.

I still have no idea whether it's option 1 or 2, but - for sure - it's a dreadful process that's been followed. Which doesn't completely help the casual observer have faith that it's option 1.