[stormhill]

You're probably right.
There are three likely scenarios here. Mueller can cut his losses and close the investigation with the prosecution of some poor schlemiel as a face-saving gesture. He can leverage a low level indictment into snatching a bigger fish perhaps all the way to Trump. The most likely outcome, he will simply drag this out through every election Trump will face including mid-terms to be used as campaign talking points for Democrats.

How Mueller is above being himself indicted is beyond my comprehension.

[Tom Bombadil]

It looks to me like a McMaster conviction or guilty plea is the goal here.

Any obstruction of justice charge against Trump will hinge on McMaster being convicted of something. Comey is the one who made notes on a meeting about McMaster and leaked them in order to trigger a special prosecutor for obstruction of justice aimed at the president.

This is not a “Russia” special prosecutor, it is an “obstruction of justice” prosecutor.