On October 24, The Washington Post reported that the 2016 Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign and the Democratic National Committee used Washington firm Fusion GPS to conduct research concerning Trump and Russia that would be detrimental to his campaign. Fusion GPS, which was contacted by Clinton campaign lawyer Marc E. Elias, hired Christopher Steele—a former British intelligence officer—to compile a dossier (a collection of documents) against Trump.

“Clinton campaign & DNC paid for research that led to the anti-Trump Fake News Dossier. The victim here is the President.” @FoxNews

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2017

The Steele dossier emerged in the midst of the election alleging that Trump hired two prostitutes to urinate on a mattress once slept-in by President Obama in Russia. While many Trump supporters are using the Steele dossier to bolster their claim of Clinton’s corrupt nature, obtaining opposition research is legal. In addition, conservative website The Washington Free Beacon used the services of Fusion GPS to obtain information about Donald Trump during the Republican primary before telling the firm to stop when Trump was likely to secure the Republican nomination.

Matthew Continetti, the editor of The Washington Free Beacon, stated that his website has no connection to the Steele dossier, although he confirms that his website did—in fact—use the services. Funding the Washington Free Beacon, billionaire Paul Singer supported Senator Marco Rubio and continued to fund efforts against Trump after Rubio dropped out of the race.