The slimes are doing what they usually do, conflating two things to misrepresent what was going on. The Wash Free Beacon hired Fusion to do opposition research on several Republicans, including Trump. However, when President Trump looked like he was getting the nomination, they pulled out and paid no more. That was when the Dems and Hillary took over paying Fusion. It was only AFTER the Free Beacon pulled out and the Dems took over that Steele was hired and the dossier was put together. So this BS that the Free Beacon was initially behind the dossier is a typical Dem, Hillary lie.
The 'alfa' lawsuit says exactly that the 'GOP' hired out Fusion GPS who hired Steele to do the research. They were looking into the russia connection and such. They dropped the info after Trump won the primary. The Dems later picked it up.
The Free Beacon might not have started the dossier, but it was started by affiliates from the GOP. That has been put forth in court.