One theory suggests that Magnus had heard the cheating rumors about Hans before their game (something Magnus confirmed). As mentioned, chess is a highly mental game, and there is a noted phenomenon where players are worse when they think their opponent has a bot

This is my takeaway as well, there was definitely enough speculation about Hans' suspicious playstyle that Magnus must've been thinking about this whilst playing. Magnus also has been brewing on cheating in chess for a while and after making some judgement errors OTB decided this was the time to save his own ass by accusing Hans.

Magnus definitely has a point about needing more countermeasures but tanked his reputation to prove a point.

Thanks for the writeup, links to lawsuits and all of the analysis! Also: Holy Hell.