Why is Obama's deputy CIA Chief making cameos?

There's always been this rumor that the CIA floats stories to newspapers and popular media. It's actually been proven in many cases, Project Mockingbird for example. The CIA used to be widely acknowledged as a propaganda arm of government that went around the world rigging elections and starting wars on behalf of "make the world safe for democracy/McDonnalds". I don't understand how they've cleaned up their image so much, to the point where left wing activists hold them up like celebrities.

NBC News has John Brennan as an analyst. Even Russia's state sponsored news media does not hire KGB agents. It's just too brazen. Brennan in particular should have been disgraced for helping to create the WMDs in Iraq lie. He has never apologized. Worse, he has never even been asked to apologize. He is welcomed with loving arms into liberal political circles.

How many more CIA agents are we going to see on TV in the coming years?