Surely revising the numbers downward close to election when people are paying most attention to them is exactly the opposite thing you would want to do to get re-elected? I'd argue the motivation for malfeasance only makes sense the opposite -- BLS does not want the administration reelected and thus is releasing worse numbers close to the election.
The scandal of never having released the numbers and a future administration finding out and publicizing it is way worse than just admitting it up front and hoping no one cares. Mark my words, when it comes to media pundits, they'll still use the old numbers from the original publications, and everyone will just go along. That's how these things work.
