For one, Steele was working for a U.S. company and not a foreign government. During the 2016 presidential primary, Fusion GPS, a Washington, D.C.-based research firm, was hired by the conservative outlet Washington Free Beacon to do opposition research on Trump on behalf of a Republican opposed to the businessman’s candidacy. When the Beacon pulled out of the deal, Fusion approached Perkins Coie, a law firm representing the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and asked if it would like to fund it. In April 2016, the firm agreed and Fusion continued its work, hiring Steele to investigate potential ties between Trump and the Russian government.

For another thing, the Steele dossier was not meant to be made public. According to the Washington Post, the FBI — which had previously hired Steele to research corruption in professional soccer — had reached an agreement shortly before the election to pay him to continue his work on Trump. But the bureau ultimately did not pay Steele, and the dossier leaked online shortly before Trump’s inauguration.