Personally, I think he was faking his bumbling.
How about this: He was all set to join the dem push for shifting the narrative from Russian collusion to obstruction and had been rehearsing his pony show with Nadler and Co. He finds out through back channels that Barr knows EVERYTHING now and he is informed that his isn’t one of the big fish intended for the upcoming nets. But, he COULD BE, if he wants to jump out front.
So, a few days before his big performance, he follows a new script to save his butt. He sends a formal letter to Barr asking for (begging for) restrictions that can hamper his testimony and then follows his new instructions, providing no catalyst for the dems to make the hyper jump to obstruction and leaving all of them with egg on their faces.
Mueller is no dummy, but he plays one on TV.
“He sends a formal letter to Barr asking for (begging for) restrictions that can hamper his testimony and then follows his new instructions, providing no catalyst for the dems to make the hyper jump to obstruction and leaving all of them with egg on their faces.”
And those soundbites the rats were looking for didn’t seem to work out as planned.
If you really want to piss off a liberal, just offer them the line I've been using for the last few days: "It sure looks like Mueller was a paid operative of the Trump/Pence 2020 campaign, doesn't it?"
LOL.