The investigation will also examine whether there is any evidence of misconduct or criminal acts in connection with the incident
What is the legal definition of misconduct anyway?
Given that Rush seemed to willfully ignore warnings from experts and fired people unwilling to do things like sign off on the safety of the sub I think there’s definitely a case for misconduct, at the very least.
The linked article quotes somebody as saying the dropped weights were most likely to slow the descent as they approached the ocean floor. They just dropped a little weight, but not enough to start ascending again.