I think Max Blumenthal is just a really weird guy, who can do good journalism and work with really interesting people, but also prone to falling for extremely stupid nonsense and of course having a huge ego and difficult personality. I know people like him and they are too volatile for me to ever work with professionally, and so i completely understand why Ben broke with him, but at the same time, if you filter out the crazy he can be a valuable resource for anti-imperialists. Treat him like radioactive material: very useful for certain purposes in the right doses but has to be handled with lead gloves and you may need a decontamination shower afterward.

I don't think he's controlled opposition. He's published too much that has been genuinely damaging to US imperialist interests.

Jiang on the other hand is pretty clearly either grifter or intelligence asset or both.

I looked up that video and it's so cringe. Even if Ben did steal from Max, which Ben denies, he's confronting him by pushing a camera in his face on a bus full of FSLN supporters. Way to make it all about you. Not a good look.

Kit Klarenberg is a treasure though.