officials and closed two Russian government-owned compounds in the United 1223 States. During the rollout of the sanctions, President-Elect Trump and multiple Transition Team senior officials, including McFarland, Steve Bannon, and Reince Priebus, were staying at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. 1224 Flynn was on vacation in the Dominican Republic, but was in daily contact 1225 with McFarland. The Transition Team and President-Elect Trump were concerned that these 1226 sanctions would harm the United States’s relationship with Russia. Although the details and timing of sanctions were unknown on December 28, 2016, the media began reporting that retaliatory measures from the Obama 1227 Administration against Russia were forthcoming. When asked about imposing sanctions on Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, President-Elect Trump told the media, “I think we ought to get on with 1228 our lives.” Russia initiated the outreach to the Transition Team. On the evening of December 28, 2016, Kislyak texted Flynn, “can you kindly call me back at your 1229 convenience.” Flynn did not respond to the text message that evening. Someone from the Russian Embassy also called Flynn the next morning, at 1230 10:38 a.m., but they did not talk. 1231 The sanctions were announced publicly on December 29, 2016. At 1:53 p.m. that day, McFarland began exchanging emails with multiple Transition Team members and advisors about the impact the sanctions would have on the 1232 incoming Administration. At 2:07 p.m., a Transition Team member texted 1233 Flynn a link to a New York Times article about the sanctions. At 2:29 p.m., 1234 McFarland called Flynn, but they did not talk. Shortly thereafter, 1235 McFarland and Bannon discussed the sanctions. According to McFarland, Bannon remarked that the sanctions would hurt their ability to have good relations with Russia, and that Russian escalation would make things more 1236 difficult. McFarland believed she told Bannon that Flynn was scheduled to 1237 talk to Kislyak later that night. McFarland also believed she may have