The difference between the "Dossier" and the Trump collussion.
I'm big on analogies in situations like this. Naturally, the biggest difference between the Dossier and the Collusion is that, in Trump's case, it involves a hostile foreign power. But it goes beyond that. One action (the Democrats) is legal, the other (Trump's) is illegal.
By trying to gather information that was knowingly obtained illegally, the gathering of that information is, in and of itself, illegal.
Here's the analogy.
Let's look at candidate (A). He has an opponent (Candidate B) who went to school in England. Let's say Oxford. Candidate (A) hears rumors that Candidate (B) sold drugs while at college there in order to finance his tuition. Candidate (A) hires a private investigator (probably retired Scotland Yard detective). The PI tries to dig out that information by interviewing former classmates of Candidate (B), professors at the school, bar tenders where he hung out, ex-girlfriends and associates at the time. The PI gives the report to candidate (A). All perfectly legal.
Candidate (B) wants information on Candidate (A), as this has devolved into a very nasty campaign. Candidate (B) hires a firm that hacks into Candidate (A)'s email account to find out that he's having an affair outside his marriage. Candidate (B) knows of this hack. The emails are made public. Hacking someone's email account is illegal.
Candidate (A) has broken no laws, Candidate (B) is guilty of a crime.
