Mail.app very unstable and SyncedRules.plist file is huge 9.5GB

I am having tons of issues with Mail being very unstable in sequoia latest version. I have removed all of my email accounts and even when I try to just sync with my icloud account it takes forever and often locks up and crashes. I have deleted the Mail folder under Library and under Containers which get recreated when I start Mail. I have noticed there is a very large SyncedRules.plist file which is 9.5GB in size!! it gets recreated even after I delete it. I only have one rule in Mail and it is the default apple news rule . when I try to delete that or deactivate it mail freezes up and I usually have to force quit it. What is going on??? thanks in advance.