Even if the dossier were false, which it isn’t it would not be illegal. The dossier was produced as part of opposition research during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The research was initially funded during the Republican Party presidential primaries by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website funded by prominent Republican Paul Singer; the website hired the firm Fusion GPS to conduct the research in October 2015. After Trump emerged as the probable Republican nominee, attorney Marc Elias of the Perkins Coie law firm took over the funding on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton presidential campaign. Fusion GPS then contracted Steele to compile the dossier. Following Trump's election, Steele continued working on the report, with financing from Glenn R. Simpson of Fusion GPS, and passed on the information to British and American intelligence services.

In October 2016, the FBI reached an agreement with Steele to pay him to continue his work. Steele was known for the quality of his past work and for the knowledge he had developed over nearly 20 years working on Russia-related issues for British intelligence. The FBI found Steele credible and his unproved information worthy enough that it considered paying Steele to continue collecting information, but the release of the document to the public stopped discussions between Steele and the FBI.

Shortly after the presidential election, Senator John McCain, who had been informed about the alleged links between Kremlin and Trump, met with former British ambassador to Moscow Sir Andrew Wood. Wood confirmed the existence of the dossier and vouched for Steele's professionalism and integrity. McCain obtained the dossier from David J. Kramer and took it directly to FBI director James Comey on December 9, 2016.