The Senate ethics committee has released its report into former Senator John Ensign's affair with his married staffer, followed by his parents' giving $96,000 to the married staffer's family, followed by Senator Ensign's surprise resignation announced late last month.

The ethics committee has referred the case to the Department of Justice, saying it found evidence that Mr. Ensign had conspired to violate the revolving-door law for congressional staffers, lied to the Federal Election Commission, violated campaign finance laws and obstructed the committee's inquiry.

The documents, all PDFs, are below. Executive producer Bill Wolff points out the detail about how the married staffer, Cynthia Hampton, had been great friends starting back in high school. That's on page seven of the big report (page 14 on the PDF counter).

Have fun reading in with us. As always, hit the comments with your finds. We'll have a full report on the show.

Special Counsel's report to the ethics committee
The committee's referall to the Justice Department
The committee's report to the FEC

Tepco/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images/The Lede Blog

Building that houses reactor No. 3 on the left, No. 4 on the right.

The normal temperature in a spent fuel pool is under 25 degrees Celsius, the International Atomic Energy Agency says. The chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Congress today that he believed all the water in the No. 4 reactor at Japan's Fukushima plant had boiled off, and that the fuel rods were fully exposed and leaking radiation.     

We'll have much, much more on the show tonight at 9 Eastern. For now, the latest figures from the IAEA.   

The IAEA can confirm the following information regarding the temperatures of the spent nuclear fuel pools at Units 4, 5 and 6 at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:    

Unit 4

14 March, 10:08 UTC: 84 ˚C

15 March, 10:00 UTC: 84 ˚C

16 March, 05:00 UTC: no data  

Unit 5

14 March, 10:08 UTC: 59.7 ˚C

15 March, 10:00 UTC: 60.4 ˚C

16 March, 05:00 UTC: 62.7 ˚C  

Unit 6

14 March, 10:08 UTC: 58.0 ˚C

15 March, 10:00 UTC: 58.5 ˚C

16 March, 05:00 UTC: 60.0 ˚C

Tonight on the show, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg talks about his campaign for gun safety in our very armed country.

Most recently, Mr. Bloomberg sent undercover investigators to buy guns at a gun show in Arizona.

Bloomberg's office sent eight private investigators to the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the state fairgrounds in Phoenix the weekend of Jan. 22-23. The investigation was conducted in response to the Jan. 8 shooting near Tucson that killed six and wounded 13, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The investigators bought a Glock 17 9 mm handgun without a background check and two 33-round extended magazines from private sellers. Investigators also bought a Sig Sauer Pro 9 mm handgun and a Smith & Wesson handgun from two private sellers who continued with the sales even after being told by the undercover buyers that they probably could not pass a background check.

The Arizona AG accuses Mayor Bloomberg of conducting a publicity stunt. Tonight, Rachel asks all about it. This'll be fun. We'll see you at 9 PM Eastern.

The official line from the White House now is that it's "not for our country or our government to determine" Egypt's future.

Maybe not, but our country and our government have certainly played a role in determining Egypt's recent past. The U.S. has given Egypt $1.3 billion a year in military aid since the Camp David Accords established peace with Israel in 1979. That money goes to buy tanks and helicopters and fighter jets.

The U.S. spends another several hundred million dollars a year on economic development, some of it going back the U.S. in purchases of our goods.

Over at Pro Publica, Marian Wang runs the FAQ on America's relationship with Egypt -- her post is a linksfest. You'll be glad you played. Then we'll see you at 9 P.M. Eastern with a full hour of coverage you won't get anywhere else.

The White House just released excerpts of President Obama's State of the Union:

With their votes, the American people determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties. New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. We will move forward together, or not at all - for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.

At stake right now is not who wins the next election - after all, we just had an election. At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else. It's whether the hard work and industry of our people is rewarded. It's whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light to the world. We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.

---

 But we have never measured progress by these yardsticks alone. We measure progress by the success of our people. By the jobs they can find and the quality of life those jobs offer. By the prospects of a small business owner who dreams of turning a good idea into a thriving enterprise. By the opportunities for a better life that we pass on to our children. That's the project the American people want us to work on. Together.

 …

Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon. The science wasn't there yet. NASA didn't even exist.

 

But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.

 

This is our generation's Sputnik moment.

"Americans are skeptical of both political parties, and that skepticism is justified - especially when it comes to spending. So hold all of us accountable. In this very room, the House will produce, debate, and advance a budget. Last year - in an unprecedented failure- Congress chose not to pass, or even propose a budget. The spending spree continued unchecked. We owe you a better choice and a different vision. Our forthcoming budget is our obligation to you - to show you how we intend to do things differently … how we will cut spending to get the debt down… help create jobs and prosperity … and reform government programs."

-- Advance excerpt from Rep. Paul Ryan's official Republican response to the State of the Union

After the jump, Rep. Michele Bachmann's Tea Party response.

From Rep. Bachmann's prepared remarks:

"After the $700 billion bailout, the trillion-dollar stimulus, and the massive budget bill with over 9,000 earmarks that the President signed, many of you implored Washington to please stop spending money we don't have.

"But, instead of cutting, we saw an unprecedented explosion of government spending and debt at President Obama's direction; unlike anything we have seen in the history of our country."
 

"For two years President Obama made promises… He claimed that he would find solutions to fix our economy and help create jobs.

"Well, here are a few suggestions:

"The President could stop the EPA from imposing a job-destroying cap-and-trade system.

"The President could agree with House Republicans and commit himself to signing a Balanced Budget Amendment.

"The President could also agree to an all-of-the-above energy policy whereby we increase American energy production, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, reduce the price of gas at the pump, and create good-paying jobs in the U.S.

"The President could turn back some of the 132 regulations put in place in the last two years that each have an impact of $100-million or more on our economy."
 

"Thanks to all of you, there's reason to hope that real spending cuts are coming. Last November many of you went to the polls and voted out big-spending politicians and you put in their place men and women who have come to Washington with a commitment to follow the Constitution and cut the size of government. And I believe that we are in the early days of a history-making turn here in the House of Representatives.

"Last week we voted to repeal ObamaCare, and each day going forward, we must work hard to dismantle the massive government expansion that has happened over the past two years."