A few thoughts on this, assuming all the facts in this story are accurate (as they are based on comments from the president's lawyers, that is not a given):
(1) A show of strength on the part of the White House would be to release the answers publicly. If that happens, and I don't expect it to happen, that would be a real sign that the president's lawyers see no exposure on the Russia side of this investigation.
(2) It is significant that, at least according to this story, they appear to be answering questions only on the Russia side, not the obstruction side. If that's correct, it leaves Mueller with an interesting choice on obstruction: whether to pursue answers further or not. 
Notably, the New York Times account on this point is a bit softer: nytimes.com/2018/11/15/us/…
So look for Mueller's next move in this space. That will be an interesting indicator.
So look for Mueller's next move in this space. That will be an interesting indicator.
The rest of this read has been weirdly deleted in a Twitter glitch. Trying to restore.
Ack. Sorry. It's gone. Will reconstruct. Apologies for the delay.
(3) The President, by all accounts, has been in an unusually bad mood this week. It's an interesting question to what extent answering these questions has contributed to--as @EliStokols put it--his retreat into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment: latimes.com/politics/la-na…
(4) There are a lot of different threads of public reporting out there, some more reliable than others, about where Mueller is right now: active grand jury activity on Roger Stone et all, reports that he is winding down, that he is writing a report...
...rumors about Don Jr., and apparently dormant (at least in public) investigative arenas that keep reemerging (Peter Smith, George Nader, etc.).
Here is a good general piece of advice: Take anyone who confidently tells you what's up with Mueller as a blowhard. Nobody knows.
Here is a good general piece of advice: Take anyone who confidently tells you what's up with Mueller as a blowhard. Nobody knows.
(5) Nobody outside of DOJ has 360 visibility on the investigation, and very people inside of DOJ have it. Those outsiders who have the most visibility are not reliable sources--and have less insight than they seem to imagine. So just accept that we don't, and shouldn't, know.
(6) Here's one thing I do think we can infer: It is a very good sign that Mueller is still silent. It likely means he is not having problems with Whitaker--at least not problems that he doesn't think he resolve quietly within the framework of the special counsel regulations.
(7) So here's my bottom line: there are limited tea leaves to read, and I don't trust anyone other than Bob Mueller to tell us what's up with the Mueller investigation.
I also trust Mueller to tell us when he's got a problem.
I also trust Mueller to tell us when he's got a problem.
That's all I got.
