And because there was 22 of them – many of them high ranking and respected – the rest of the scientific community trusted that they acted honestly.
I think many people honestly commits huge mistakes because of belief in reputation and authority. I also think some of these Respected authorities also believe they are right because they don't know better. It's a huge conundrum.
But I also think some respected authorities are well aware of what they are doing and do it on purpose. I think Huizenga and others were victims of their own ego.
EDIT:
I think another way to strengthen this explanation will be to show a similarity of the form of argumentation used by cold fusion deniers, and deniers from other scientific revolutions.
I assume you are familiar with "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn. This is the kind of paradigm shifts he referred to, which causes violent oposition, and that's why he talks of Scientific Revolutions, because none has been quietly accepted by the defendants of the paradigm being replaced.