The attacks have been a big deal for years, because it has been happening for years. The entire collusion nonsense got it's wings based on the false dossier 

"Not one of the sensational allegations in the Democrat-financed memos from former British spy Christopher Steele has been verified independently, at least publicly"
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/16/carter-page-rebuts-democrats-on-russia-dossier/
This is what the investigation is based on. Any mention of Russia around someone in the Trump administration throws up all of these red flags that needs another investigation started. We already how the Russian are trying to influence our elections. The Democrats are now just hoping to find some obscure connection to someone associated with the Trump administration. Once they can tag a big T (traitor) to that person's forehead any concerns about Russian hacking will just go by the wayside.