That goes on all the time. What's amazing is how this sort of effort is used to control the public's political activity, somewhat through press reports, but also through official reports, e.g., from the FBI or ODNI, that are KNOWN FALSE.
The government knowingingly and willingly lies to and deceives the public, so that certain people within the control structure are protected and retain control. The system is, at it's foundation, based on deception.
The Steele Dossier and it's fallout, all the way up to Mueller's witch hunt, is not odd man out, this is business as usual.
The only reason the subject has surfaced the way it has is that Trump was supposed to lose. He is a real threat to the continuation of public deception.
Because they miscalculated and did not understand that by 2016 "every" aware person not in on the Deep State operation had figured out that they were losing badly ("stagnant" wages for decades, a justice system that wasn't providing justice, out of control immigration).
It's as simple as a predator prey problem where the predators had eaten too much prey. Only in this case the predators also aren't as smart as they think they are and the prey is a whole lot more competent at life-skills than the predators who just got their hands on levers of power they didn't understand or really know the consequences of using (Alinskyites like the Clintons and baby Bush who graduated from Yale because he got into the place because his father was famous and connected).
I live here in the swamp and I gotta tell you - they are utterly and totally incompetent. You should see our neighborhood blog - they can't fix a light switch or replace a leaking valve stem. And of course being the swamp the crafts and trades that are here are either illegal or they are rip-off artists and half to be because honest people earning honest wages cannot afford to live here anymore. The overwhelming growth of the DC metro area has been drive by the WAR ON TERROR. Bush/Cheney turned it into the taxpayer funded scam Bonanza of all time.