'Being really good at it' is subversion when they aren't actually really good at it, they just disregard the rules. I wont speak for George, but yes, doing it in secret makes me think they *are* adding bias. If this is upstanding, good work, they would do it in view with open communication. Transparency breeds accountability.
In this particular case, other than some clumsy meatpuppeting which rang all the alarm bells, nothing was done in secret. The editor declared his interest in his first edit.
Fred