Mueller is dirty-ish, trying to save his neck. That’s my snapshot.
He is pure black, backed into a corner only when he came under the supervision of Barr (and Whitaker) and forced to justify what he was doing to people who weren’t part of the plot. He would have continued for years if Barr hadn’t come along. One of the first things Barr did was meet with him and ask some pointed questions. Q gave us a transcript of that meeting, or a summary. Based on the answers to those questions, the jig was up, and he acquiesced to preparing a final report. Even that, he stretched out to weeks, instead of days, to give time to indict Roger Stone and hassle some other folks.