A few thoughts: 1) SDNY (not Mueller) included the damning charge against Individual-1. Mueller lacks any will to make a clear unambiguous statement against Trump. I read the entire Mueller report...volume 1 was an unending tortuous example of ignoring the door in the maze in favor of chasing down paths leading to nowhere. Mueller dithered, spent 50 hours with a clearly untrustworthy Manafort, failed to request Trump's taxes, or interview key players. Whatever his virtues, clarity is not among them. 2) the unredacted sections in Volume 1 of the Mueller report highlights a call between Trump and Stone about the Wikileaks releases...there is no ambiguity about Stone's role in enabling election interference, 3) I think it's unlikely that Stone would have talked, regardless of his clear use of the media to transmit his concerns...there are always more tricks Stone and his attorneys could have pulled to delay his sentence. It's far more likely that Trump needed to flex his power to fire up his base who were increasingly distracted by Covid-19 in their communities and his failed Tulsa rally. Trump knew the GOP wouldn't dare to balk and the House would simply wring its collective hands, allowing him to regain his footing, and Barr to use the moment to install lackeys in the EDNY, who had been investigating Trump's inaugural campaign.
A few thoughts: 1) SDNY (not Mueller) included the damning charge against Individual-1. Mueller lacks any will to make a clear unambiguous statement against Trump. I read the entire Mueller report...volume 1 was an unending tortuous example of ignoring the door in the maze in favor of chasing down paths leading to nowhere. Mueller dithered, spent 50 hours with a clearly untrustworthy Manafort, failed to request Trump's taxes, or interview key players. Whatever his virtues, clarity is not among them. 2) the unredacted sections in Volume 1 of the Mueller report highlights a call between Trump and Stone about the Wikileaks releases...there is no ambiguity about Stone's role in enabling election interference, 3) I think it's unlikely that Stone would have talked, regardless of his clear use of the media to transmit his concerns...there are always more tricks Stone and his attorneys could have pulled to delay his sentence. It's far more likely that Trump needed to flex his power to fire up his base who were increasingly distracted by Covid-19 in their communities and his failed Tulsa rally. Trump knew the GOP wouldn't dare to balk and the House would simply wring its collective hands, allowing him to regain his footing, and Barr to use the moment to install lackeys in the EDNY, who had been investigating Trump's inaugural campaign.