What we do have better support for is a more general pattern that fits your “failed/misdirected mission” framing, without needing the specific “8 refused to write” detail:

• Disciples are shown as confused, afraid, and failing at key moments (for example, abandonment during arrest; Peter’s denial).
• After events that shattered expectations (Jesus’ death by execution), people’s behavior could easily shift toward silence, delay, or reluctance—especially under threat from authorities.
• Christian tradition then develops testimony into preaching and later writing, not as instant “written witness statements” the way modern courts expect.

So if you’re asking whether it’s plausible that disciples didn’t immediately produce written testimony, that’s plausible. But if you’re asking whether we can say which disciples, how many (8), and that they refused “to suppress truth,” that goes beyond what the evidence actually supports.

If you want to push this as a forensic reconstruction, share the exact reasoning you’re using for “8” (where that number comes from—story, text, author, or document). Then I can help you assess whether the inference follows from the evidence or whether it’s adding assumptions.