I legit don't think they expected the DOJ to be fine with Dearie, and fully anticipated the selection process to take longer.
I also don't think Trump's Dollar Tree Legal Team figured the DOJ would be comfortable narrow focusing their objections to the 11th Circuit, thereby allowing that appeal to get through within a few days (With the 11th Circuit - and two Trump appointees at that - absolutely slaughtering Trump's darling judge's ruling). Which means Dearie sticks around as a Special Master, but Judge Cannon's denial of viewing the documents to the DOJ has been overturned meaning the investigation is back on track (And Garland's probably been spending the down time getting his investigators the clearance levels needed to browse all the documents since that was an issue).
And yeah, Trump's flailing. He'd already been run out of New York in a metaphorical sense long before his Presidential aspirations, his usefulness to Putin evaporated when he failed to secure re-election (Plus Putin can't keep bankrolling Trump's failings when his own economy is teetering on the brink), and the Saudis are not the kind of people you want to disappoint by failing to deliver promised intel (Hence the desperation to get those "planted" files back).
That said, he's managed to dodge every other silver bullet fired his way and we continue to live in entirely unprecedented times. I'm not eagerly anticipating the sword finally coming down on his head, but I definitely can see the walls closing in on the man as his own inability to maintain a narrative is working against him in this instance.