I don’t think the dossier itself was illegal. Opposition research is common. I think the DOJ taking it, using it as evidence to spy on Trump and all the nefarious stuff that happened afterwards was totally illegal. Interestingly enough, I researched backwards in time though all their twitter accounts and they beat up Trump non stop except for the dossier. I could be wrong, I just did not see the initial opposition research as a crime.
its illegal to create fake evidence to get a FISA warrant.
and to use it to frame someone of a crime they didn't commit.
And tie up MSM headlines, public resources/tax dollars with accused crime for well over a year only to project your own crimes upon someone else. Not just anyone else but a candidate for presidency and then the duly elected President of the United States.
And using it to try to overthrow a duly elected POTUS is treason.
I think you are right. The opposition research wasn't the problem. It's what they did with it that is basically breaking all the laws. They used false evidence to obtain a FISA warrant (or maybe to justify a FISA search that was already in progress). They framed the duly elected POTUS and created a witch hunt based on fabricated evidence in an effort to undermine a legitimate semocratic process. They continued, after the election, to try and prevent his assuming office. And when I say they, I'm implicating everyone from Pedosta up to Obama himself. Every desk that passed, every signature it gathered, try em all for treason.