This is propaganda directed at the public and at the other members of the agencies. Often people have good reasons for doing what they do. For example, Chelsea Manning was accused of espionage for revealing war crimes.

The US has a long history of starting wars on fictional grounds (it's hard to think of one that wasn't after the Civil War, with a possible exception for WW2) and this can lead people that come to realize they were conned to try to get justice.