>>5990044 PB re Mueller's role
It is a good theory, too.
I think that POTUS did a head fake, like he did in the Comey dinner meeting, which only encouraged the attempts to cover-up what Mueller had to know about – whether at the getgo or as he got through his first several weeks on the job investigating. Saw the mission and thought he could get away with it right under the nose of POTUS, whom he underestimated. POTUS played along - the Session rants, the hands-tied in "fear of impeachment", and the rest. Flip side is that Mueller, like Comey (best buddy), over-estimated themselves and their power.
They enjoyed an over-abundance of incaution and wallowed neck-deep in the quicksands of hubris.