Whelan didn't backpeddle. The apology was for the people he mentioned in his threads, that he didn't mean to make their names public.
But his theory stands.
I fully believe it...it’s the only plausible theory so far. I wondered if maybe he was threatened with libel so he apologized, but cooperating with the owner sort of makes sense. However, Garrett could be opening himself up to criminal liability if he admits to anything...you know those Dems are out for blood and will be looking for anything to save face if this doesn’t work as they hoped!