Why are guys who are no longer spooks, and either finished their shift or resigned, even approached?
They are just Private Freaking Civilians now, just like you or me.
Having been in and around the IC for more than 40 years (almost exclusively at the operational level, minus one “detail” to the White House after 9/11), I can assure you that many - if not most - of the DC swamp dwellers can be likened to PhDs; they “specialize” in a VERY narrow area like North Korean proliferation issues and were considered “experts” in those areas. However, an NK analyst doesn’t know shinola about KGB/FSB intel operations. Moreover, there a LOT of senior-level former intel “officials” who don’t know shinola about intel operations at all - ours or anyone else’s.