TABLE OF CONTENTS – VOLUME II INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME II EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TO VOLUME II I. BACKGROUND LEGAL AND EVIDENTIARY PRINCIPLES A. Legal Framework of Obstruction of Justice B. Investigative and Evidentiary Considerations II. FACTUAL RESULTS OF THE OBSTRUCTION INVESTIGATION A. The Campaign’s Response to Reports About Russian Support for Trump 1. Press Reports Allege Links Between the Trump Campaign and Russia 2. The Trump Campaign Reacts to WikiLeaks’s Release of Hacked Emails 3. The Trump Campaign Reacts to Allegations That Russia was Seeking to Aid Candidate Trump 4. After the Election, Trump Continues to Deny Any Contacts or Connections with Russia or That Russia Aided his Election B. The President’s Conduct Concerning the Investigation of Michael Flynn 1. Incoming National Security Advisor Flynn Discusses Sanctions on Russia with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak 2. President-Elect Trump is Briefed on the Intelligence Community’s Assessment of Russian Interference in the Election and Congress Opens Election-Interference Investigations 3. Flynn Makes False Statements About his Communications with Kislyak to Incoming Administration Officials, the Media, and the FBI 4. DOJ Officials Notify the White House of Their Concerns About Flynn 5. McGahn has a Follow-Up Meeting About Flynn with Yates; President Trump has Dinner with FBI Director Comey 6. Flynn’s Resignation 7. The President Discusses Flynn with FBI Director Comey 8. The Media Raises Questions About the President’s Delay in Terminating Flynn 9. The President Attempts to Have K.T. McFarland Create a Witness Statement Denying that he Directed Flynn’s Discussions with Kislyak C. The President’s Reaction to Public Confirmation of the FBI’s Russia Investigation 1. Attorney General Sessions Recuses From the Russia Investigation 2. FBI Director Comey Publicly Confirms the Existence of the Russia Investigation in Testimony Before HPSCI 3. The President Asks Intelligence Community Leaders to Make Public Statements that he had No Connection to Russia 4. The President Asks Comey to “Lift the Cloud” Created by the Russia Investigation D. Events Leading Up To and Surrounding the Termination of FBI Director Comey 1. Comey Testifies Before the Senate Judiciary Committee and Declines to Answer Questions