Here is a news article: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

 The second Joe Biden suggested that the White House might enact "executive actions, executive orders" on guns, the gun lobby smashed the glass and hit the alarm. The Drudge Report illustrated Biden's quote with portraits of Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler, who (among arguably worse things) restricted gun rights. There were surprisingly few questions from Republicans about what the executive actions might actually be.

 David Weigel David Weigel is a reporter for the Washington Post.

 Here's the list, via the White House. (I did not engage in complication reporter-fu to get this. It's the general fact sheet.)

 1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

 2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

 3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

 4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

 5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

 6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

 7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

 8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

 9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

 10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

 11. Nominate an ATF director.

 12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

 13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

 14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

 15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies

 16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

 17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

 18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

 19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

 20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

 21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

 22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

 23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

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 And these are the legislative ideas -- i.e., the ones the president wants to push through Congress, starting with the more pliable Senate.

 Require criminal background checks for all gun sales. (a.k.a. closing the "gun show loophole.")

 Reinstate and strengthen the assault weapons ban.

 Restore the 10-round limit on ammunition magazines.

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 Protect police by finishing the job of getting rid of armor-piercing bullets.

 Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime.

 End the freeze on gun violence research.

 Make our schools safer with more school resource officers and school counselors, safer climates, and better emergency response plans.

 Help ensure that young people get the mental health treatment they need. ||||| Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

 NBC News flags one of the 23 executive actions taken by President Obama this afternoon as part of his push for stricter gun control in the United States: In short, the president has effectively lifted what has been a virtual 17-year ban on basic research into the public health effects of gun violence. But while the CDC will have the freedom to resume work on that topic, it's still unclear whether it will have the funding to do so.

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 Here's the relevant part from the White House fact sheet, under action No. 14, titled clearly as "Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence":

 Conduct research on the causes and prevention of gun violence, including links between video games, media images, and violence: The President is issuing a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control and scientific agencies to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence. It is based on legal analysis that concludes such research is not prohibited by any appropriations language. The CDC will start immediately by assessing existing strategies for preventing gun violence and identifying the most pressing research questions, with the greatest potential public health impact. And the Administration is calling on Congress to provide $10 million for the CDC to conduct further research, including investigating the relationship between video games, media images, and violence.

 Better understand how and when firearms are used in violent death: To research gun violence prevention, we also need better data. When firearms are used in homicides or suicides, the National Violent Death Reporting System collects anonymous data, including the type of firearm used, whether the firearm was stored loaded or locked, and details on youth gun access. Congress should invest an additional $20 million to expand this system from the 18 states currently participating to all 50 states, helping Americans better understand how and when firearms are used in a violent death and informing future research and prevention strategies.

 As you can see in that first graph, Obama is asking Congress to pony up $10 million to fund said research. While it's unclear whether lawmakers will give him the cash he wants, regardless it appears as though those at the CDC will have the freedom to examine something that they've turned something of a blind eye to since 1996. NBC explains the back story:

 From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the CDC conducted original, peer-reviewed research into gun violence, including questions such as whether people who had guns in their homes gained protection from the weapons. (The answer, researchers found, was no. Homes with guns had a nearly three times greater risk of homicide and a nearly five times greater risk of suicide than those without, according to a 1993 study in the New England Journal of Medicine.)

 But in 1996, the NRA, with the help of Congressional leaders, moved to suppress such information and to block future federal research into gun violence, [Dr. Mark Rosenberg, president of the Task Force for Global Health and director of the CDC's Center for Injury Prevention and Control from 1994 to 1999] said.

 The statute that governs the agency's funding stipulates that none of its federal funding can be used "to advocate or promote gun control." While that never specifically blocked research into gun violence, the language was broad enough to give CDC officials pause and serve as a deterrent to inquisitive researchers. [Paul D. Thacker, a former Senate investigator, wrote about the NRA's campaign to shut down studies at the CDC in a piece for Slate back in December. You can read that here.]

 "CDC overreacted to that statement and became more reluctant to fund anything dealing with guns, even the traditional epidemiological research, so there was a chilling effect," Stephen Teret, director for the Center for Law and the Public’s Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explained to NBC.

 Obama's executive order, however, should bring an end to those fears. "[R]esearch on gun violence is not advocacy; it is critical public health research that gives all Americans information they need," reads the White House fact sheet. ||||| President Barack Obama on Wednesday launched the most sweeping effort to curb U.S. gun violence in nearly two decades, announcing a $500 million package that sets up a fight with Congress over bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines just a month after a shooting in Connecticut killed 20 school children.

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, left, hugs eight-year-old letter writer Grant Fritz during a news conference on proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013,... (Associated Press)

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, talks about proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington.... (Associated Press)

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, law enforcement officials, lawmakers and children who wrote the president about gun violence following last month's shooting at an elementary... (Associated Press)

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, and children who wrote the president about gun violence following last month's shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., signs... (Associated Press)

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, talks about proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington.... (Associated Press)

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, gestures as he talks about proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House... (Associated Press)

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, left, gets a high-five from eight-year-old letter writer Grant Fritz during a news conference on proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday,... (Associated Press)

 In this photo made with a fisheye lens on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013, five used military style rifles are all that is available in the rack that usually has over twenty new models for sale at Duke's Sport... (Associated Press)

 President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, law enforcement officials, lawmakers and children who wrote the president about gun violence following last month's shooting at an elementary... (Associated Press)

 FILE - In a Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 file photo, gun owners discuss a potential sale of an AR-15, during the 2013 Rocky Mountain Gun Show at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. Nearly six in 10... (Associated Press)

 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders applaud after Cuomo signed New York's Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act into law during a ceremony in the Red Room at the Capitol on Tuesday,... (Associated Press)

 Jimmy Greene, left, kisses his wife Nelba Marquez-Greene as he holds a portrait of their daughter, Sandy Hook School shooting victim Ana Marquez-Greene at a news conference at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown,... (Associated Press)

 In this photo made with a fisheye lens, customers line up at the gun counter at Duke's Sport Shop on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013, in New Castle, Pa. President Barack Obama is expected to announce measures... (Associated Press)

 From left to right: Hinna Zeejah, 8, Taejah Goode, 10, Julia Stokes, 11, and Grant Fritz, 8, who wrote letters to President Barack Obama about the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., watch as Obama signs... (Associated Press)

 Obama signed 23 executive actions, which require no congressional approval. But the president, speaking at the White House, acknowledged the most sweeping, effective actions must be taken by lawmakers.

 "To make a real and lasting difference, Congress must act," Obama said. "And Congress must act soon." He added, "I'll put everything that I've got into this."

 The president appealed to the nation's conscience, but his announcement promises to lead to a bitter fight with a powerful pro-gun lobby that has long warned supporters that Obama wanted to take away their guns.

 The U.S. has the highest rate of gun ownership of any country in the world, and pro-gun groups see any move on gun restrictions as an offense against the right guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Critics counter that the country's founding fathers never could have foreseen assault weapons more than two centuries ago, when guns were intended for the common, not individual, defense, guns were often stored in community areas and rifles fired one laborious shot at a time.

 "This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, and always will be," Obama said, acknowledging the right to possess and bear firearms. "But we've also long realized ... that with rights come responsibilities."

 Obama was joined by children who wrote him letters about gun violence in the weeks following the Connecticut shooting. Families of the children killed in the shooting, as well as survivors, were also in the audience.

 Emotions have been high since the Connecticut shooting, which Obama has called the worst day of his presidency. He largely ignored the issue of gun violence during his first term but appears willing to stake his second term on it now. He'll have to contend with looming fiscal issues that have threatened to push whatever he proposes aside, at least for a while.

 Gun control advocates also worry that opposition from the powerful National Rifle Association and its allies in Congress will be too great to overcome.

 "Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation," the NRA said in a statement after Obama's announcement. "Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy."

 The NRA also released an online video Tuesday that called Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for having armed Secret Service agents protect his daughters at school while not committing to installing armed guards in all schools. The NRA insists that the best way to prevent more mass shootings is to give more "good guys" guns.

 The White House called the NRA video "repugnant and cowardly."

 Obama's proposals are aimed at gun violence in general, not just mass shootings. He said more than 900 Americans have been killed by guns in the month since the Connecticut shooting.

 "Every day we wait, the number will keep growing," he said.

 The public appears receptive to stronger federal action on guns. Nearly six in 10 Americans want stricter gun laws in the aftermath of the Connecticut shooting, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. Three-quarters of Americans said they reacted to the Connecticut shooting with deep anger, while 54 percent said they felt deeply ashamed it could happen in the United States.

 The poll also shows 51 percent said they believed laws limiting gun ownership infringe on the public's right to bear firearms.

 White House officials, seeking to avoid setting the president up for failure, have emphasized that no single measure _ even an assault weapons ban _ would solve the scourge of gun violence. But without such a ban, or other sweeping Congress-approved measures, it's unclear whether executive actions alone can make any noticeable difference.

 The office of the most powerful Republican in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, signaled no urgency to act on the proposals. "House committees of jurisdiction will review these recommendations," Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said. "And if the Senate passes a bill, we will also take a look at that."

 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a fellow Democrat, called Obama's package "thoughtful recommendations" and said the Senate would consider legislation addressing gun violence early this year.

 The president asked Congress to renew the ban on high-grade, military-style assault weapons that was first signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994 but expired in 2004. Obama also called for limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds or fewer, and he proposed a federal statute to stop purchases of guns by buyers who are acting for others.

 The president also called for a focus on universal background checks. Some 40 percent of gun sales take place without background checks, including those by private sellers at gun shows or over the Internet, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

 The president's framework is based on recommendations from Vice President Joe Biden, who led a wide-ranging task force on gun violence. Beyond the gun control measures, Biden also gave Obama suggestions for improving mental health care and addressing violent images in video games, movies and television.

 The president also called for improvements in school safety, including putting 1,000 police officers in schools.

 States and cities have been moving against gun violence as well. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed into law the toughest gun control law in the U.S., and the first since the Connecticut shooting. The law includes a tougher assault-weapons ban and provisions to try to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill people who make threats.

 The NRA criticized the bill, saying in a statement, "These gun control schemes have failed in the past and will have no impact on public safety and crime."

 In Washington, it's unclear how much political capital Obama will use in pressing for congressional action.

 The White House and Congress will soon be consumed by three looming fiscal deadlines, each of which is expected to be contentious. And the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has warned the White House that it will be at least three months before the chamber considers gun legislation.

 Congress, in any case, can move slowly. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday he'll begin hearings in two weeks on gun safety proposals. Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, a gun owner, said he envisions a series of hearings examining violence in popular media and how to keep guns safe, among other topics.

 Leahy's plan could take more time than Obama has urged.

 Obama's long list of executive orders includes the following:

 _ Ordering tougher penalties for people who lie on background checks and requiring federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

 _ Ending limits that make it more difficult for the government to research gun violence, such as gathering data on guns that fall into criminal hands.

 _ Requiring federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

 _ Giving schools flexibility to use federal grant money to improve school safety, such as by hiring school resource officers.

 _ Giving communities grants to institute programs to keep guns away from people who shouldn't have them.

 ___

 Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Erica Werner, Ken Ritter, Josh Lederman Michael Gormley and Michael Virtanen contributed to this report. ||||| The White House is planning a multifaceted effort to sell its plans, including speeches around the country by the president and vice president and concerted lobbying by interest groups to influence several dozen lawmakers from both parties seen as critical to passage. The White House created a Web page with video testimonials from victims of gun violence and a sign-up for supporters to help advocate the president’s plan.

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 “I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it,” Mr. Obama said. “And, by the way, that doesn’t just mean from certain parts of the country. We’re going to need voices in those areas, in those Congressional districts where the tradition of gun ownership is strong, to speak up and to say this is important. It can’t just be the usual suspects.”

 The N.R.A. made clear that it was ready for a fight. Even before the president’s speech, it broadcast a provocative video calling Mr. Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for opposing more armed guards in schools while his daughters had Secret Service protection. After the speech the group said it would work to secure schools, fix the mental health system and prosecute criminals but criticized the president’s other proposals. “Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation,” the N.R.A. said in a statement. “Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected, and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy.”

 Mr. Obama’s plan included 4 major legislative proposals and 23 executive actions that he initiated on his own authority to bolster enforcement of existing laws, improve the nation’s database used for background checks and otherwise make it harder for criminals and people with mental illness to get guns.

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 Mr. Obama asked Congress to reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale and production of assault weapons that passed in 1994 and expired in 2004. He also called for a ban on the sale and production of magazines with more than 10 rounds, like those used in Newtown and other mass shootings. Mr. Obama’s plan would require criminal background checks for all gun sales, closing the longstanding loophole that allows buyers to avoid screening by purchasing weapons from unlicensed sellers at gun shows or in private sales. Nearly 40 percent of all gun sales are exempt from the system.

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 He also proposed legislation banning the possession or transfer of armor-piercing bullets and cracking down on “straw purchasers,” those who pass background checks and then forward guns to criminals or others forbidden from purchasing them.

 Photo

 For Mr. Obama, the plan represented a political pivot. While he has always expressed support for an assault weapons ban, he has made no real effort to pass it on the assumption that the votes were not there. But he and the White House are banking on the idea that the Newtown shooting has changed the dynamics. “I have never seen the nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook,” Mr. Biden said Wednesday. “The world has changed and is demanding action.”

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 The future of the plan may depend on how much political energy Mr. Obama puts behind it, not just to pressure Republicans but to win over Democrats who support gun rights. Even the White House considers passage of a new assault weapons ban exceedingly difficult, but there did seem to be some consensus building for expanding background checks.

 Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat and a longtime gun control supporter, made no mention of the assault weapons ban in a statement but pointed to the background checks. “If you look at the combination of likelihood of passage and effectiveness of curbing gun crime,” he said, “universal background checks is at the sweet spot.”

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 On the other side, Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, dismissed an assault weapons ban as ineffective. “But in terms of background checks, in terms of keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals and people who have serious mental health difficulties, we want to do that, and we would take a close look at that,” he told C-Span.

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 Gun control groups said they would campaign hard for the president’s proposals. Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said his group would focus on as many as 25 Congressional districts, including those of Democrats and Republicans. “We will be doing what we can do to make sure that sitting on their hands is the least safe place to be,” he said.

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 Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania, a gun rights supporter, said he re-evaluated his position after Newtown. “I was shaken by it, and that caused me to think in a much more probing way about the policy,” he said in an interview. “If it has anywhere near the impact on others that it did on me, then I think the ground shifted a lot.”

 But Mr. Obama’s plans still generated strong opposition. “Nothing the president is proposing would have stopped the massacre at Sandy Hook,” said Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “President Obama is targeting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens instead of seriously addressing the real underlying causes of such violence.”

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 Other Republicans echoed those sentiments. “The Second Amendment is nonnegotiable,” said Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas.

 Representative Dan Benishek of Michigan said in a Twitter message: “Let me be clear, I will fight any efforts to take our guns. Not on my watch.”

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 Also Wednesday, Mr. Obama nominated B. Todd Jones, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to lead an agency that has not had a Senate-confirmed director since 2006.

 The 23 executive actions Mr. Obama signed on Wednesday were largely modest initiatives to toughen enforcement of existing laws and to encourage federal agencies and state governments to share more information. Mr. Obama lifted a ban on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting research on gun violence and directed that a letter be sent to health care providers saying doctors may ask patients about guns in their homes.

 Several Republicans accused Mr. Obama of flouting Congress. “Using executive action to attempt to poke holes in the Second Amendment is a power grab,” said Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. |||||
A summary of this is?

– So just what are the 23 executive orders President Obama signed today as part of his plan to curb gun violence? Dave Weigel at Slate runs them down, and here's a sampling from him and AP: "Require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system." Order "tougher penalties for people who lie on background checks." Have the attorney general "review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks." Direct the Centers for Disease Control "to research the causes and prevention of gun violence." (This one is getting a lot of attention. See here.) Nominate an ATF director. "Require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations." Give "schools flexibility to use federal grant money to improve school safety, such as by hiring school resource officers." Read Weigel's full list here. Or see details on each from the White House itself here. These are separate from the list of proposed laws Obama hopes to push through Congress starting next week—reinstating the ban on assault weapons, limiting high-capacity ammunition magazines, closing loopholes on gun sales, and more, reports the New York Times.


– Hillary Clinton's team has—somewhat belatedly—clarified that every one of the approximately 32,000 emails deemed "private" and deleted was opened and read before being chucked. The clarification comes a few days after a Time story claimed that the review involved searching by keywords and not checking every email. A Clinton spokesman blames the confusion on a fact sheet provided after a press conference last week, which mentioned keyword searches. "We simply took for granted that reading every single email came across as the most important, fundamental, and exhaustive step that was performed," he said in a statement to Fox. "The fact sheet should have been clearer in stating that every email was read." But while the 31,830 emails appear to be gone forever, it doesn't look like the controversy for Clinton is going to go away anytime soon. House Speaker John Boehner plans to announce a new probe this week into Clinton's email use, including the deletions, according to ABC News, which cites "top House Republicans." And it's not just Clinton's emails that are gone: The State Department has admitted that routine archiving of the inboxes of senior officials only began last month. "It's very troubling," a spokesman for the National Security Archive group tells Politico. "People in the community of record-keepers and historians had known that our history was at risk for a long time."

Expand this summary.

Hillary Clinton’s camp late Sunday issued a significant clarification about the steps they say were taken to review thousands of personal emails before they were deleted, claiming her team individually read “every email” before discarding those deemed private.

 Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill made the clarification in a written statement to Fox News. This comes after the former secretary of state’s office revealed last week that while more than 30,000 “work-related” emails were turned over to the State Department, nearly 32,000 were deemed “private” and deleted.

 This admission raised questions over how her team decided to get rid of those messages. Merrill on Sunday clarified an earlier fact sheet that described some of those methods but did not say every email was read.

 “We simply took for granted that reading every single email came across as the most important, fundamental and exhaustive step that was performed. The fact sheet should have been clearer in stating that every email was read,” Merrill said.

 Clinton, a likely Democratic presidential candidate, tried to tamp down the controversy over her exclusive use of personal email while secretary of state during a press conference last week. But the admission that she deleted thousands of messages, and her insistence that her personal server remain private, stirred the ire – and curiosity -- of lawmakers who want greater access to her communications as secretary and complain much of it may be gone forever.

 More on this... Trey Gowdy on efforts to retrieve Hillary Clinton's emails

 Whether the assurance that “every email” was read before being either deleted or turned over eases those concerns remains to be seen.

 “I have zero interest in looking at her personal emails,” South Carolina GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy said on “Fox News Sunday.” “But who gets to decide what’s personal and what’s public? And if it’s a mixed-use email, and lots of the emails we get in life are both personal and work, I just can’t trust her lawyers to make the determination that the public’s getting everything they’re entitled to.”

 Fox News' Ed Henry contributed to this report ||||| House Speaker John Boehner is expected to announce this week a new investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices as Secretary of State, including her admission that more than 31,000 emails were destroyed because she determined them to be personal, top House Republicans told ABC News today.

 Interested in ? Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest

 During a news conference last week, Clinton did not go into the details of how the review of her email was conducted, but said it was “thorough” and that she went “above and beyond” what she was required to do in turning over many of her emails to the State Department.

 "We went through a thorough process to identify all of my work-related emails and deliver them to the State Department," she said, adding that all other emails were personal and pertained to matters such as "yoga routines," "family vacations," and "planning Chelsea's wedding."

 After the news conference, Clinton’s team distributed a lengthy question-and-answer document that detailed the “multi-step” process. The process appeared to have included an extensive, nuanced search of Clinton’s inbox, but the document did not make clear how many of the emails were opened and read in the review.

 On Sunday, Clinton’s spokesman clarified that “every email was read” and that the steps they outlined in the document “were in addition to reading them all, not in lieu of reading them all.”

 According to the document, here is a summary of how Clinton’s attorneys, who were tasked with the job, said they sorted through her emails:

 First, a search was done of all emails Clinton received from a .gov or state.gov account during the period she was secretary of state -- from 2009 to 2013.

 Then, with the remaining emails, a search was done for names of 100 State Department and other U.S. government officials who Clinton may have had correspondence with during her tenure.

 Next, the emails were organized and reviewed by sender and recipient to “account for non-obvious or non-recognizable email addresses or misspellings or other idiosyncrasies.”

 Lastly, of the emails still left over, a "number of terms" were searched, including “Benghazi” and “Libya.”

 The results of the search were that Clinton’s attorneys found 30,490 work-related emails and 31,830 emails that were deemed “private and personal.”

 Clinton said on Tuesday she deleted all of the personal emails because she felt she “had no reason to save them.”

 The revelation has only raised more questions among Clinton’s detractors about what was in those emails and why she used the private account in the first place.

 Clinton said she did so out of “convenience,” but acknowledged during the news conference it “would have been better” if she had used two separate phones and two email accounts.

 "I thought using one device would be simpler, and obviously it hasn't worked out that way,” she said.

 Democratic strategist and Clinton ally James Carville, speaking on “This Week,” said he suspected the former First Lady “didn't want [Rep.] Louis Gohmert rifling through her e-mails,” and added the controversy “amounts to nothing but a bunch of people flapping their jaws about nothing.” ||||| Hillary Clinton’s claim that most work-related emails sent from her personal account were preserved in the electronic files of other State Department officials fell apart Friday.

 After a week of deflecting questions about how emails were handled during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, the agency finally acknowledged that the email traffic of other senior officials was not automatically or routinely archived.

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 The loose record-keeping practices, which were immediately criticized by historians and open government advocates, are only now being corrected.

 “It’s very troubling,” said Nate Jones of the National Security Archive, a non-profit group which gathers and disseminates declassified government records. “People in the community of recordkeepers and historians had known that our history was at risk for a long time….It’s a wake up call, I think, for the public at large, which assumed everyone had Gmail capabilities and didn’t realize how backward the government was.”

 The practices raise the possibility that many messages of historical importance were destroyed unless individual officials made a practice of saving their emails or printing out paper copies.

 State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said it would be incorrect to call the emails destroyed since some might be retrievable through technology. But she acknowledged that regular archiving of the work email in-boxes of senior officials besides the secretary did not begin until “February of this year.”

 “I wouldn’t state it’s ‘lost to history’ because there are technical means of gaining access to past information,” Psaki said. “I’m not an expert on the technical capabilities.”

 Clinton had said at a news conference Tuesday that she believed the vast majority of work-related emails she sent or received from the private account, linked to a server at her New York residence, were “immediately captured and preserved” because she was in correspondence with other officials using “.gov” accounts.

 But in another day of intense questioning from reporters, Psaki said automatic archiving began just last month for “dozens” of top officials — such as deputy secretaries, under secretaries and assistant secretaries. “Our goal is to apply this to all employee mailboxes by the end of 2016,” she said.

 The state spokeswoman previously said Secretary of State John Kerry uses an official account and his emails have been archived since soon after he succeeded Clinton.

 A Clinton spokesman had no comment on the department’s disclosure.

 However, some transparency advocates said it’s now incumbent on the former secretary and likely 2016 presidential candidate to explain why she thought she was preserving her emails simply because they were sent to someone with a “.gov” address.

 “She spoke as if she could just roll along with the firm expectation and belief that at least the ‘vast majority’ were being ‘handled’ in that way. From whence did that come? That’s the question that arises now,” said former Justice Department Office of Information and Privacy Director Dan Metcalfe, who now teaches on secrecy issues at American University’s law school. “What was her foundation for even that? Did someone incorrectly tell her that that was happening, or did she incorrectly make such a self-serving assumption?”

 Psaki also revealed Friday that the department “recently” requested copies of work-related emails some current and former State officials had sent or received on private accounts. She said she believed the letter requesting such records was sent earlier this week and was related to investigations underway on Capitol Hill.

 “There have obviously been requests from Congress for certain information,” Psaki said. She did not immediately have details on how widely the department’s request for current and former officials was distributed.

 Clinton sent copies of 55,000 pages of emails to the State Department in December in response to a letter sent in October to her and three other former secretaries seeking copies of work-related records held in private accounts. State is now processing those emails for public release under Freedom of Information Act standards.

 Clinton also said Tuesday that she disposed of about 32,000 emails on the same account after her lawyers determined the messages were personal in nature.

 Psaki declined to answer reporters’ repeated questions about whether the department was satisfied with Clinton’s explanation for her use of a private email account as secretary.

 Later in the briefing, however, Psaki suggested that there was confusion among some State Department employees about what was and was not being automatically saved.

 “I assume some assumed that was happening at the time as well,” Psaki said. “We’re updating it because it’s an imperfect system.”

 Speaking without reference to Clinton, Psaki said the duty was on individual employees to save records that met standards for permanent archiving. “Clearly, individuals — any top officials — would also be expected to preserve their documents,” she said.

 Psaki said the move last month to begin archiving senior officials’ emails was not triggered by concerns about Clinton’s email practices. “They have long been planning to do this. It’s just something that it took some time to put in place,” she said.

 Despite the State Department’s practice of not archiving top officials’ emails until recently, some of the emails were saved when employees printed them and put them in permanent files, saved them in electronic folders, or — in a specific agency system — marked them as permanent records.

 “Obviously, this [automatic archiving] is a more efficient way — a way that will require less human effort….We have quite a bit going on here at the State Department,” Psaki said. “There were ways to preserve [emails] and employees and individuals were expected to do that prior to this new process.”

 State’s disclosure Friday did expose a bizarre twist to Clinton’s decision to do all her e-mailing as secretary via a private account and server: some of those emails may be more accessible now as a result, given what appears to have been a default policy at state not to automatically archive official emails.

 “That’s the silver lining, but it’s not the solution,” Jones said. “The solution is having the National Archives and Records Administration actually preserve the records in the first place. No one’s going to come out smelling like roses after this one.” |||||


Article:

The Shasta County Sheriff's Office has confirmed new information about Sherri Papini's startling condition after her alleged kidnapping.

 Interested in Sherri Papini? Add Sherri Papini as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Sherri Papini news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest

 Keith Papini told ABC News in an exclusive statement that his wife's face was "covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings." He added that the bridge of her nose was broken and her signature blond hair had been chopped off.

 "I was familiar with those details," Sheriff Tom Bosenko said this morning on "GMA." "We had not released them yet to the public."

 Papini who was found alive on Thanksgiving, three weeks after her apparent abduction.

 Authorities are hunting for the alleged kidnappers, who Sherri Papini said dropped her off 150 miles from her California home on Nov. 24. She was able to flag down help even though she was bound with restraints.

 Bosenko said investigators spoke with Papini, 34, again yesterday about her ordeal.

 "Our investigators did an interview yesterday with her, a follow-up interview from Thanksgiving Day," he said. "They spoke to her for several hours, and then late afternoon, early evening, they were going over her interview and planned to interview her again today."

 Keith Papini told "GMA" exclusively that he was grateful to thousands of people who have reached out to his family during what he called "this torturous journey." He also addressed online comments that his wife's kidnapping may be a hoax.

 But Bosenko said police have no reason to doubt Papini's story.

 "So far, we are investigating this as a kidnapping-abduction, and everything that she is providing us thus far is indicating that," he said.

 ABCNews.com

 "We currently don't have a known motive or reason for this abduction," Bosenko added. "We don't know if it was targeted to her specifically or a random abduction."

 He confirmed reports that negative comments about Hispanics were posted online under Papini's maiden name. He did not explain where these comments were posted or what exactly was said.

 "This is a definitely a unique occurrence," Bosenko said. "Our investigators are still actively working the case, as they have been since Nov. 2."

 On the basis of Papini's description of her alleged captors, he said, authorities are searching for two Hispanic female adults driving an SUV.

 "And that's all that we have regarding the description," Bosenko said. "We hope to have a little more later today."

 ABC News' JJ Gallagher contributed to this report. ||||| The husband of Sherri Papini, a California mom who went missing for three weeks after allegedly being kidnapped while out for a jog, is speaking out about his family's ordeal in an exclusive statement to "Good Morning America."

 Interested in Sherri Papini? Add Sherri Papini as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Sherri Papini news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest

 Sherri Papini went missing on Nov. 2 and was found three weeks later, on Thanksgiving, on the side of a road and bound by restraints, according to police. The mother of two young children, she was described by her family as a "super mom."

 Her husband, Keith Papini, said he was grateful to thousands of people who have reached out to his family during what he called "this torturous journey."

 "Thank you to the many incredible humans that have never known Sherri that facilitated in sharing our heartbreak across the globe," he said in a statement. "Sherri has always captured my heart, and it is no surprise that she has captured the hearts not only through the country but throughout the world."

 But after giving thanks for all the support, Keith Papini addressed the increasing scrutiny brought on by all the attention his wife's alleged kidnapping has received.

 Calling it a "double-edged sword," he said he is grateful that his wife's story spread quickly.

 But he added, "Rumors, assumptions, lies and hate have been both exhausting and disgusting. We are not going to allow those people to take away our spirit, love or rejoice in our girl found alive and home where she belongs," he said. "I understand people want the story, pictures, proof that this was not some sort of hoax, plan to gain money or some fabricated race war. I do not see a purpose in addressing each preposterous lie."

 Keith Papini described in detail his wife's condition when they were reunited in the hospital.

 "Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see upon my arrival at the hospital nor the details of the true hell I was about to hear," he wrote. "My first sight was my wife in a hospital bed, her face covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings, the bridge of her nose broken."

 He added that after she was found, she weighed only 87 pounds and "her signature long blond hair had been chopped off."

 Here is the statement in full:

 The first thing I would like to address is the overwhelming amount of gratitude our entire family has for the thousands of people that have been on this torturous journey with us. I cannot possibly name each and every person, although their names are eternally etched in our hearts. Thank you to our strong family, devoted friends, the entire Redding community and countless communities around the world. Specific thanks to the Shasta County Sheriff's department, FBI, NorCal Alliance for the Missing, the Lost Coast Trackers, Shasta Support Services, the Guardian Angels, my own personal A-Team, Cameron Gamble, Cody Salfen, Jim Linnan, Sean Ditty, Don Armstrong, Yolo County Sheriff's Department and hospital, the medical personnel that helped our dear Sherri, social media and many news outlets. Thank you to LRT Graphics and Signarama. Thank you to the extremely generous, anonymous as well as named donors all over the world [who] selflessly gave to our family. Thank you to the many incredible humans that have never known Sherri that facilitated in sharing our heart break across the globe. Sherri has always captured my heart, and it is no surprise that she has captured the hearts not only through the country but throughout the world. Thank you, truly, immensely, sincerely and with my entire heart.

 Secondly, we live in a nation of free speech, accompanied with an era of technology that provides immediate gratification. This is a double-edged sword. I am grateful for this system, as it is what spread my wife's face quickly throughout the world, gaining the attention of thousands. The unfortunate side is that some people have been sitting in angering, expectant positions, waiting for the gory details.

 Rumors, assumptions, lies and hate have been both exhausting and disgusting. Those people should be ashamed of their malicious, subhuman behavior. We are not going to allow those people to take away our spirit, love or rejoice in our girl found alive and home where she belongs. I understand people want the story, pictures, proof that this was not some sort of hoax, plan to gain money or some fabricated race war. I do not see a purpose in addressing each preposterous lie. Instead, may I give you a glimpse of the mixture of horror and elation that was my experience of reuniting with the love of my life and mother of our children.

 Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see upon my arrival at the hospital nor the details of the true hell I was about to hear. The mental prison I was in over the past three weeks was shattered when my questions of my wife's reality became known.

 The officers warned me to brace myself. My first sight was my wife in a hospital bed, her face covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings, the bridge of her nose broken.

 Her now emaciated body of 87 pounds was covered in multicolored bruises, severe burns, red rashes and chain markings. Her signature long blond hair had been chopped off. She has been branded, and I could feel the rise of her scabs under my fingers. She was thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist, attached to her wrists and a bag over her head. The same bag she used to flag someone down once she was able to free one of her hands. Sherri was taken from us for 22 days and suffered incredibly through both intense physical agony and severe mental torture. My reaction was one of extreme happiness and overwhelming nausea as my eyes and hands scanned her body. I was filled with so much relief and revulsion at once. My Sherri suffered tremendously, and all the visions swirling in your heads of her appearance, I assure you, are not as graphic and gruesome as the reality.

 We are a very private family [who] do not use social media outlets prior to this grotesque tragedy. My love for my wife took [precedence], and it was clear we had to be exposed in ways we never would have been comfortable with. So please have a heart and understand why we have asked for our privacy. This will be along road of healing for everyone. Ultimately, it was Sherri's will to survive that brought her home. Thank you. |||||
What is a summary?

– Keith Papini says his wife suffered "both intense physical agony and severe mental torture" while held captive for 22 days, and anyone spreading "disgusting" rumors "should be ashamed of their malicious, subhuman behavior." In a statement to ABC News, the husband of Sherri Papini—who flagged down a motorist in Yolo County, Calif., on Thanksgiving after disappearing Nov. 2—says he felt "horror and elation" when he first saw his wife at a hospital. "Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see … nor the details of the true hell I was about to hear," he says. Sherri—weighing just 87 pounds—had been branded; was covered in bruises, burns, and rashes; her nose was broken; and her hair was chopped off, he says. Hours earlier, Papini had been "thrown from a vehicle with a chain around her waist, attached to her wrists and a bag over her head," Keith Papini says. She used the bag to flag down a motorist after freeing one of her hands, he adds. Some will believe the abduction was "some sort of hoax, plan to gain money, or some fabricated race war," but "I do not see a purpose in addressing each preposterous lie," he says. Sheriff Tom Bosenko—who has confirmed that disparaging comments about Hispanics were posted online under Papini's maiden name—also confirmed details of Papini's condition to ABC News. He adds interviews with Papini are continuing to gain more information about her captors, described as two Hispanic women in a dark SUV. (Police earlier said Papini's story holds up.)


– The Texas teenager who killed four people while driving drunk and got off with probation thanks to an "affluenza' defense says he doesn't even remember the crash. In newly released deposition footage, Ethan Couch says he believed his parents knew that he was a drinker and his mom had warned him not to drink and drive the night of the June, 2013 crash, ABC reports. "I've taken Valium, Hydrocodone, marijuana, cocaine, Xanax, and I think I tried Ecstasy once," says Couch, who testified that he was often allowed to stay alone at the family's second home. Couch, who is now 18, was three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit for an adult when he crashed his father's pickup truck, and he says he doesn't even remember leaving the house. The newly released footage also includes video of Couch's parents talking about the boy's upbringing, WFAA reports. Both parents admitted that the teen had issues with alcohol and although his mother claimed he was sometimes punished, she couldn't recall the last time that happened, the New York Daily News reports. Months before the deadly crash, Couch received a summons for an incident that included drunk-driving allegations, and his mother says she "should have" realized that if he wasn't punished, he would probably end up drinking and driving again. The final crash lawsuit was settled last week and Couch is now out of rehab and working at his father's sheet-metal company, reports ABC. (Last year, Couch's father was charged with impersonating a police officer.)

Expand this summary.

Texas teen Ethan Couch lived a drug-filled life of privilege with no punishment before he took four lives in the so-called “affluenza” DUI crash, newly-released footage revealed Friday.

 Couch, his mother and father and a psychologist appear in deposition videos in a lawsuit filed by a teen who was one of 11 others injured in the June 2013 collision near Fort Worth, ABC News reported.

 “I've taken Valium, Hydrocodone, marijuana, cocaine, Xanax and I think I tried Ecstasy once, pretty sure that was it,” Couch said in his testimony, admitting he drank at the family’s second home in Burleson “most of the time.”

 All he remembers from the night police said he crashed his dad’s pickup truck with three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system is “waking up handcuffed to the hospital bed,” Couch testified.

 Ethan Couch, now 18, is shown testifying in newly-released deposition videos in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a teenager who was injured in the drunk-driving wreck that killed four, according to reports. (ABC News) Fred Couch, father of Ethan Couch, testified, "I don't even know that I believe affluenza is real," ABC reported. (ABC News) Tonya Couch testified that she couldn't remember the last time her son was punished during her deposition. (ABC News)

 Couch, who was 16 at the time of the wreck, escaped prison time when he pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault. Couch’s sentence of 10 years’ probation and time at a rehab center provoked outrage in light of prosecutors' recommended 20-year prison sentence.

 Psychologist Dr. G. Dick Miller used the term “affluenza” during the criminal trial, asserting Tonya and Fred Couch spoiled their son too much for him to know right from wrong. The newly-released testimony marks the first time Couch’s parents have spoken under oath about the case, according to ABC.

 “I don’t even know that I believe affluenza is real,” Fred Couch said in the video, saying he “never” told his son that rules didn’t apply to him. Couch’s parents punished him for a summons four months before the fatal collision by making the teen walk to work for a month, Fred Couch said.

 Lucas McConnell, now 15, filed a civil lawsuit against the Crouch family and their multimillion-dollar sheet metal business, which caused Ethan Crouch's parents to testify about the case for the first time under oath, according to ABC. (ABC News)

 Yet his son said he never had to walk to work. And Tonya Couch said the teen didn’t complete his required community service in the summons, ABC reported.

 Couch’s mom said the parents “sometimes” punished their son but couldn’t recall the last time they disciplined him. An attorney asked her if she realized the lack of consequences after the summons - which included allegations of drunk driving - failed to teach her son a lesson.

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 Ethan Couch, then 16, is shown in a file photo from his criminal trial in December 2013. His sentence of rehab and 10 years' probation provoked outrage in light of prosecutors' recommended 20 years in prison. (KDFW-FOX 4/AP)

 “I should have known that,” Tonya Couch said. “I really didn’t think that that would happen again.”

 But the fatal wreck happened when seven teens piled into the truck after a party and the souped-up truck went careening into a group of people helping a stranded driver by the side of the road. The parents “strongly enabled” it, the psychologist, Miller, said in his newly-released deposition.

 The family of Lucas McConnell settled last week with the family and their multimillion-dollar sheet metal firm in the last civil suit in the case. McConnell, now 15 after recovering from his injuries, told ABC the family sued “cause I haven’t seen any punishment.”

 Police said Couch was driving with three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system when he crashed his dad's pickup truck into a group helping a stranded motorist by the side of the road near Fort Worth, Texas, in June 2013. (Tarrant County Sheriff's Office)

 He said, “I feel like it needs to be done.”

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 With NEWS WIRE REPORTS ||||| dozen others were injured in a horrific scene on Burleson Retta Road in south Tarrant County. (Photo: ABC News)

 FORT WORTH – In never-before-seen deposition recordings, Ethan Couch and his parents admit the then-16-year-old had problems with alcohol, and that the teen barely remembers the night a drunk driving crash killed four people.

 Couch was behind the wheel of his family's white pick-up truck in June of 2013 when it plowed into a group of good Samaritans trying to help a stranded driver. Four people were killed, and nearly a dozen others were injured in a horrific scene on Burleson Retta Road in south Tarrant County.

 In deposition footage obtained by ABC's 20/20 as part of a recently-settled civil case against Couch, the now-18-year-old admits he recalls very little about the night police say he had a 0.24 BAC, triple the legal limit of those of age to drink.

 Ethan Couch (Photo: WFAA)

 "Do you remember hitting the vehicle in the ditch?" an attorney asked.

 "No," Couch replied.

 "Do you remember hitting the people standing there?" the attorney continued.

 "No," Couch replied.

 When asked if he exchanged text messages with his mom about drinking and driving that evening, Couch responded, "She just sent me a text not to be out late, and not be out drinking and driving."

 Depositions from Ethan Couch and his family reveal for the first time what the family knew the night Ethan killed four people in a drunk driving crash and when they knew it. Todd Unger has more.

 In the testimony recorded in June, Couch drinks from a water bottle, answers questions directly, and has a goatee. The appearance stands in contrast to the youngish-looking teen that went to trial before Judge Jean Boyd in December of 2013, and was ultimately sentenced to probation and treatment, instead of jail.

 The recordings also include testimony from Ethan's parents, Fred and Tonya Couch, conducted late last year.

 During the criminal trial, Couch's psychologist testified that he was a victim of "affluenza," because he was protected from his mistakes by his family's wealth.

 Tonya Couch (Photo: ABC News)

 In part of her testimony, Tonya Couch was asked directly by an attorney if she believes her son is an addict and has problems with alcohol.

 After lengthy pauses, and a sigh, she replied, "Yes."

 In the video, Fred Couch said he didn't know his son was drinking heavily the night of the crash, but did acknowledge it had been an issue before that night.

 "Did I know that Ethan had, on occasion, been drinking alcohol? I did know that," he said.

 Fred Couch (Photo: ABC News)

 The family has never spoken publicly about the case. Their civil attorney didn't respond to requests for comment.

 Last week, the Couch family settled the final lawsuit against them filed by the family of Lucas McConnell, a young teenager hurt in the crash.

 Couch was sentenced to ten years of probation and treatment as part of a sentence handed down by Judge Boyd. News 8 profiled the state hospital he lived at for months in 2014.

 On Friday night, 20/20 is airing an hour-long special about the Couch case directly before News 8 at 10.

 Read or Share this story: http://on.wfaa.com/1LwIiwS ||||| Never-before-seen deposition tapes reveal new details of how Texas teen Ethan Couch and his parents viewed his privileged upbringing that became the core of his defense in the so-called “Affluenza” DUI case.

 The deposition tapes, which were obtained by ABC News, are from a 2013 civil suit brought against Couch, his parents Tonya and Fred Couch, and the family’s multimillion-dollar sheet metal company Cleburne Sheet Metal after the teenager killed four people and paralyzed another in a fatal DUI car accident on June 15, 2013.

 Couch and his parents did not testify at the criminal case that followed, so these tapes show the family talking about what happened in their own words for the first time under oath.

 During the deposition, Ethan Couch, who was 16 years old at the time of the accident, described a privileged life seemingly with few rules or consequences. He testified that he did drugs, that he thought his mother knew he drank alcohol and warned him not to drink and drive the night of the accident, that his parents allowed him to start driving by himself at age 13, and that he often stayed alone in the family’s second home in Burleson, Texas.

 Tonya and Fred Couch admitted in the deposition that they allowed their son to stay without supervision in the Burleson home and to drive before he was of legal age, but denied knowing about his drinking habits. Fred Couch testified that “[Ethan] seemed pretty responsible.”

 When asked if she had ever disciplined Ethan for anything, Tonya Couch testified in the deposition that she would “sometimes ... take little things away from him or we would just discuss the problems.” When asked if she could recall the last time she disciplined her son, Tonya replied, “I don’t remember.”

 On the night of June 15, 2013, Couch’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he got behind the wheel of his father’s red pick-up truck with seven other teens inside after a night of partying, authorities said.

 That night, Couch barreled down the road at approximately 70 miles an hour when he lost control of the truck, swerved into a ditch and plowed into a group of people who were helping a stranded motorist on the side of the road, killing four of them instantly, authorities said.

 When asked during the deposition if he remembered pulling out of the driveway, Ethan Couch said, “Not really.” The next thing he said he remembered was “waking up handcuffed to the hospital bed.”

 Couch pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault on Dec. 4, 2013.

 At the sentencing hearing, Couch’s legal team called prominent psychologist Dr. G. Dick Miller to the stand to testify on Couch’s behalf. Miller said that Couch’s upbringing and a lack of consequences for his actions caused him to suffer from “Affluenza.”

 The prosecution advocated for Couch to receive a 20-year prison term, but instead he was sentenced to 10 years of probation and time in a rehab facility, a ruling that shocked the victims' families and made national headlines.

 Following the criminal case ruling, six families whose relatives were involved in the fatal accident brought civil suits against the Couches and the family’s business. The Couches settled all of the suits without admitting any wrongdoing.

 “Never once has Ethan apologized in any shape or form,” said Eric Boyles, who lost his wife and daughter in the 2013 crash.

 Another family, the McConnells, whose son Lucas, now 15, was injured in the crash, was the last family to settle. At first, they fought to take the Couches to court, which is what led Ethan Couch, his parents, Ethan’s friends and psychologist Dr. G. Dick Miller to be deposed.

 During his deposition, Miller said he had “strongly” recommended in the criminal sentencing that Couch needed to be separated from his parents and that their parenting “strongly enabled” the deadly accident.

 Fred Couch tried to distance himself from the “affluenza” defense during his deposition, testifying that, “I don’t even know that I believe affluenza is real.” He denied that he and Tonya Couch were “profoundly dysfunctional” parents and “never” taught Ethan the rules didn’t apply to him.

 Tonya Couch also testified that she “never saw the child drink.” But Ethan’s friend Starr Teague testified in the deposition that she had been drinking with Ethan in front of his mother at the family’s Fort Worth home one week before the 2013 crash.

 Even on the night of the crash, Teague testified that Ethan had been texting with his mother and she “knew that we were drinking, she was like, �?well just don’t drink and drive.’”

 Just four months before the fatal crash, police had stopped a 15-year-old Couch at 1 a.m., who was drunk and relieving himself in a parking lot. Though he was alleged to be in clear violation of five different laws that night, Couch got away with a summons and was sent home with his mother Tonya Couch, according to one of the McConnells' attorneys, Todd Clement.

 During the deposition, Tonya Couch testified she didn’t tell Fred Couch that their son had been drunk the night of the parking lot incident because she “wasn’t sure how he would react” if he knew “the whole truth.”

 As punishment for the summons, Fred Couch testified that he made Ethan walk to work for a month, but Ethan denied that ever happened. “I don’t remember ever having to walk to work,” he said during the deposition.

 For that incident, Ethan was required to complete an alcohol awareness course and eight hours of community service within 90 days. But Tonya Couch testified in the deposition that her son never did the community service.

 When asked by Greg Coontz, one of the McConnells' attorneys, if she understood that Ethan would likely continue drinking and driving if there weren’t consequences for his actions, Tonya Couch replied, “I should have, yes.”

 “I should have known that,” she continued. “I really didn’t think that that would happen again.”

 When Ethan Couch was asked during the deposition if there was “always alcohol” at the Burleson house, he said, “not always,” but “most of the time, yes.” He admitted to there being drugs at the house and proceeded to list the number of drugs he had tried.

 “I’ve taken Valium, Hydrocodone, marijuana, cocaine, Xanax and I think I tried ecstasy once, pretty sure that was it,” Couch testified.

 Nearly two and a half years since the June 2013 crash, Couch, who is now 18 years old and still on probation, is out of rehab and working at his father’s business, Cleburne Sheet Metal. The Couches declined “20/20’s” requests for comment for this report.

 The McConnells have settled their suit with the Couches but they and the other victims’ families remain convinced that this accident was preventable. But over time, some hope to find forgiveness.

 “It’s a daily decision to forgive,” said Shaunna Jennings, whose husband was one of the people who had stopped to help the stranded motorist when he was killed. “[Hate] doesn’t do anything except punish you. ... I can’t live my life bitter or angry.” |||||


These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Your Moscow mule cocktail may look pretty in a copper mug, but officials in Iowa say that using copper containers for this beverage, and similar drinks, could be hazardous for your health.

 Recently, Iowa's Alcoholic Beverages Division issued an advisory stating that pure copper mugs should not be used to serve Moscow mules or other acidic beverages with a pH below 6.0, including fruit juices, vinegar and wine. Traditionally, Moscow mules contain vodka, ginger beer and lime and have a pH well below 6.0, the advisory said.

 When copper comes into contact with acidic foods and beverages, copper may leach into the food or drink. Ingesting too much copper can lead to copper poisoning, the advisory said. Symptoms of copper poisoning include abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and jaundice, or a yellowing of the skin, according to the National Institutes of Health. [Top 7 Germs in Food that Make You Sick]

 The Alcoholic Beverages Division said it issued the advisory because of the recent rise in popularity of Moscow mules, which has led to questions about the safety of copper containers for this beverage.

 But Moscow mule enthusiasts need not despair — you can still use a mug with a copper exterior, as long as the interior is lined with a different metal, such as nickel or stainless steel. Mugs with these interiors are safe containers for the cocktail, and are widely available, the advisory said.

 Original article on Live Science. ||||| A collection of web resources related to the UCSF Food Industry Documents Archive which collects internal documents from companies, such as the U.S. sugar industry, that harm public health. |||||

Write a summary.

– One of the most talked-about cocktails this week is the trendy Moscow Mule, but for all the wrong reasons. You can thank Iowa. The spate of headlines was kicked off by an official state health advisory warning that the drink, usually served in a copper mug, poses a health risk if the wrong kind of mug is used. For the uninitiated, a Moscow Mule has vodka, ginger beer, and lime, and thus is acidic, explains Live Science. The problem is, you're not supposed to serve acidic beverages in mugs with a copper interior because it raises the risk of copper leaching into the drink. Solution? A mug with a copper exterior is fine, but make sure the interior is made of stainless steel, nickel, or some other alternative. The advice isn't new, but the state felt compelled to issue the advisory given the "recent popularity of Moscow Mules." (A cruise through Instagram proves the point.) Iowa's warning is based on an FDA advisory from a few years ago. Specifically, it says that drinks with a PH level of 6.0 or under should not be served in pure copper mugs, and the Mule falls into that category. For the record, so do fruit juices, vinegar, and wine, notes the Daily News. (Some might prefer a little food poisoning to this cocktail ingredient.)