IMO it wouldn't have been leaked if an indictment was pending. This was done to get DJT to react, perhaps even fire Mueller (which I think he should go ahead and do at this point).
Mueller has been begging to be fired for months.
This is what’s going on: Bush and Romney, plus the Clinton Crime Family, decided long ago that Trump had to go, to be removed. But to impeach him and convict him with no cover story was a bridge too far for Ryan and his caucus.
Ryan needs 25 Republican members to indict (I presume all 193 Democrats are “yes” votes). But with elections every two years, he has to give his members cover to vote that way.
The plan was “RussiaRussiaRussia”. When there was nothing there, the plan was to provoke Trump to fire Mueller. Lately, it’s been “Charlottesville” (whatever that even means).
But they have to move now. In less that two months, we’ll be inside one year from the next House election. Any GOP Member who votes to impeach Trump will go home after the next election unless they can concoct a story about why impeachment was necessary.
So, the story will be that Manafort, with Trump’s approval, got the Russians to do something bad.
As soon as Mueller releases whatever he has, or has made up, Ryan will be everywhere reading the speech he wrote six months ago, “It is with a heavy heart that I have concluded...”