estranged
Calling Malaysians "muppets" is ridiculous. Particularly when you have no knowledge at all of what comms gave taken place between them and the US, or any other country for that matter.
And, thus far, every leak from a so-called "reliable" source has turned out to be hogwash.
There would also be the matter of exactly when this US info, if it exists (which has still not been OFFICIALLY confirmed by the Malaysians or the US), was made available.
I simply don't buy into this theory that the Malaysians are a bunch of bumbling fools. My interactions with them, in 20+ years of living and working in SE Asia have not shown them to be bumbling fools.
If you simply don't have the right info you will not find the aircraft. It's really that simple, isn't it? They have no logical reason to prevaricate and will be painfully aware that their failure to find the aircraft is making them look bad. They'll want to find it as much as anybody else.
All the leaks from so-called "reliable" sources clearly do not help, and that's down to glory-seeking journalists who want to score the big story.