A sprinkling of lesser-known figures are included, as well, such as Bruce Ohr, who was a top Justice Department official before being sidelined, and his wife, Nellie Ohr, who monitored Russian news media for Fusion GPS, the firm that paid Mr. Steele.

Throughout the memo is a veritable who’s who of F.B.I. and Justice Department officials who have been portrayed as corrupt partisans in Republican circles: Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who is overseeing the Russia investigation; Sally Q. Yates, who briefly served as acting attorney general before being fired by Mr. Trump; and Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, the F.B.I. officials whose anti-Trump texts are being examined by the bureau’s inspector general.

And, of course, there is Hillary Clinton, whose campaign paid for the dossier.

The F.B.I. Apparently Fired Someone Who Was Not an Employee

The memo described Mr. Steele as having been “suspended” and “terminated” by the F.B.I. as a source for “an unauthorized disclosure to the media.” It is curious language given what we know about Mr. Steele’s relationship with the F.B.I.: He voluntarily approached the bureau, he never had any kind of formal arrangement with it and he was never paid.

As far as Mr. Steele was concerned, the F.B.I. had no claim to the information he was sharing, and he was free to do with it as he pleased.

Spy Agencies Worry They Might Be the Next Targets

The past few weeks have been the F.B.I.’s and the Justice Department’s time in the barrel, to paraphrase Roger J. Stone Jr., a Trump ally and self-described Republican dirty tricks master. But the ruckus on the House Intelligence Committee has not gone unnoticed in the intelligence community, including at the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency.

Intelligence officials are expressing concerns that House Republicans, having succeeded in releasing the memo, could continue to selectively release sensitive intelligence when it suits their political needs — and that next time, it might be C.I.A. or National Security Agency intelligence that is compromised.

Intelligence Oversight Just Got Harder

When the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were created in the 1970s after Watergate, they came with an implicit understanding: Americans spies would share secrets with a select group of lawmakers and senior congressional staff, and in exchange that information would not be used for political gain.