I will disagree with @drawandstrike on this specific point. Steele wasn't fake fired by the FBI. He was fired by the FBI. The coup plotters, some of whom worked at the FBI, then found a way to backdoor his information while concealing it was Steele from the FBI. https://twitter.com/drawandstrike/status/1192585088850178048

After Comey was fired, the McCabe FBI tried to rehire Steele but was unable to do so. Then the coup plotters tried to get Mueller to rehire Steele, but he would not.

Steele was fired for real, by the FBI.

The leaks by Steele allowed Comey to have him fired, but also allowed him to conduct a counter leak a week before the election.
An authorized official leak to the NYT, stating that there was no evidence of Trump Russia Collusion. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/fbi-russia-election-donald-trump.html