What I am going to guess:
The payments were made by a law firm to Steele's group. Payments to lawfirm were for consulting fees, and reported as such, appropriately.
I don't think campaigns are responsible for hiring of subcontractors. To say that Hillary Clinton committed a crime because a subcontractor was hired, is risable.
But hey, if someone wants to push the narrative, it is a very easy criminal act to ferret out. Let's have a quick investigation, get a couple of reports, and lists of payments. I could probably fart this kind of audit out in a week or so.

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