The way I head it reported was that Steele at best complemented an already ongoing investigation. The investigations were not based on Steele's documents, although his documents were included as part of the larger investigation.

They (the right wing) went after Steele, because they sw it as the weakest part of hte investigation and if they could discredit part of the investigtion, then coudl manage public opinions.

There is a bit of a difference between a foreign agent liek Steele, providing information to an ongoing criminal investigation (which started even before Trump announced he was running), and a government preparing and offering political propaganda to affect the outcome of an election.

@snytiger6 See below. Linked to wiki with sources. I went through all this with another user last night and am too tired to rehash it.

You're correct, though, he's a retired intelligence agent, not an actual foreign government.