"Between 2014 and 2016, Steele authored more than 100 reports on Russia and Ukraine. These were written for a private client but shared widely within the US state department, and sent up to secretary of state John Kerry and assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland" 
"Many of Steele’s secret sources were the same people who would later supply information on Trump. One former state department envoy during the Obama administration said he read dozens of Steele’s reports. On Russia, the envoy said, Steele was “as good as the CIA or anyone”.
'A lawyer working for Clinton’s campaign, Marc E Elias, retained Fusion and received its reports. The world of private investigation was a morally ambiguous one –a sort of open market in dirt. Before this, in early spring 2016, Simpson approached Steele, his friend and colleague'
"Steele began to scrutinise Paul Manafort, who would soon become Trump’s new campaign manager. From April, Steele investigated Trump on behalf of the DNC." theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/…
"Normally an intelligence officer would debrief sources directly, but since Steele could no longer visit Russia, this had to be done by others, or in third countries. There were intermediaries, subsources, operators–a sensitive chain. Only one of Steele’s sources on Trump knew..
'... of Steele. Steele put out his Trump-Russia query and waited for answers. His sources started reporting back... For at least the past five years, Russian intelligence had been secretly cultivating Trump. This operation had succeeded beyond Moscow’s wildest expectations. "
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