Former President Bill Clinton gave a deposition Friday on his relationship with child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein that was decidedly necessary. Clinton had a decade-long relationship with Epstein that extended to the point that he flew on the disgraced financier’s private plane 24 times and appears in the Epstein files in photographs with multiple young women. We learned from the Epstein files that the FBI has investigated claims against Clinton in connection with its investigation of Epstein’s activities. Federal investigators even questioned Epstein extensively on his relationship with Clinton. To all of these inquiries, Epstein responded by pleading the Fifth. The images of Clinton that have emerged from the Epstein files suggest that Clinton was close enough with Epstein, as well as with Ghislaine Maxwell, to casually hang out with the young women — and victims — in their orbit. (RELATED: The Spectator P.M. Ep. 192: New Evidence Shows Clintons’ Long Relationship With Epstein) That is concerning given that we know that Epstein victimized women and children by offering them to his associates for them to sexually abuse. In a particularly concerning photo published by the Daily Mail, Clinton is shown in 2002 receiving a shoulder massage from a young woman, Chauntae Davies, who was a victim of Jeffrey Epstein. At the time the photo was taken, Davies was 22 years old. She later accused Epstein of having repeatedly raped her for four years from 2001 until 2005, when she was able to escape. She has said that massaging the former president was consensual. Two other photos from the Epstein files show Clinton posing with unidentified young women whose faces are redacted. In both of them, his arm is around the woman’s shoulder. Department of Justice photo with Bill Clinton and an unidentified woman Another picture shows Clinton swimming with Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell and an unidentified young woman whose face is blacked out. This photo certainly creates the appearance of intimate friendship as well as familiarity with the fact that Maxwell routinely hung around young women. Ghislaine Maxwell with Bill Clinton and an unidentified woman Yet another image shows a young blonde woman with her arm wrapped around Clinton and with her seated nearly in his lap. That image appears to have been taken inside a plane. Clinton looks quite pleased. Department of Justice photo with Bill Clinton and an unidentified woman It certainly doesn’t seem as though Clinton was unaware of the fact that Epstein surrounded himself with young women. There are other traces in the Epstein files suggesting that Clinton associated with the women connected to Epstein. A woman whose name was redacted told the FBI that she “met Epstein through another victim who had traveled with Epstein and Clinton to Africa.” Here we have another allegation that Clinton spent time with Epstein and one of his victims. In another example, one of Epstein’s victims and former employees, Johanna Sjoberg, testified that Epstein had once said, “Clinton likes them young.” Additionally, Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre said in a 2011 email that “B. Clinton” had intervened to stop “VF” — perhaps Vanity Fair — from publishing an article about Epstein’s sex trafficking and had stated that Epstein was “his good friend.” Of course, Clinton has done himself no favors in making it seem conceivable that he would sexually assault one of Epstein’s victims. Clinton has been credibly accused of sex crimes several times in the past, including by Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, and Kathleen Willey. He also had a sexual relationship with a 22-year-old intern while president of the United States, a major power dynamic that brings into question that intern’s ability to consent. (RELATED: There Is No Virtue Left to Signal) Epstein and Maxwell were also closely connected to the beginnings of the Clinton Global Initiative. In 2007, Epstein’s lawyers said that he was “part of the original group that conceived the Clinton Global Initiative.” The Epstein files have documented the enormous role Maxwell played in its creation; she participated in the initial budgeting and planning meetings and arranged to wire a $1 million payment for the project. Even after accusations surrounded her for her role in Epstein’s nefarious activities, she remained active in the organization until 2013. This is despite the fact that the Clinton Foundation sought in 2011 to exclude her from all emails, given the allegations. It seems that, on a personal level, Clinton had a friendship with both Epstein and Maxwell. Clinton is pictured in numerous photos with Maxwell and Epstein in the files released by the DOJ, with them all appearing quite chummy. And Maxwell was close enough to Clinton that she attended Chelsea Clinton’s wedding in 2010. This means that Clinton kept up his relationship with Maxwell after Epstein pleaded guilty to child sex crimes in 2008. In his opening statement to lawmakers Friday, Clinton said he “saw nothing” and “did nothing wrong.” Maybe that’s true, but it stretches the imagination to believe that Clinton spent so much time around Epstein — and the women he surrounded himself with — and had no clue what was going on. 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President Trump spoke to NBC News and told Kristin Welker that a large amount of the Iranian leadership has been killed since the war on Iran began this morning. He also described . . .

Ayatollah Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, was killed during a joint Israel-U.S. attack on Iran Saturday, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. informed American officials. Khamenei served as Iran’s chief theocrat and highest authority for 35 years. His death is a major blow to the regime and leaves the country with a leadership vacuum at the highest level. Airstrikes have also targeted much of Iran’s political and military leadership, leaving major uncertainty as to who will be his successor and when a change of leadership will be made effective. The death of Khamenei is a major coup for Israel, which has repeatedly threatened to kill the ayatollah and topple the Iranian government. It also achieves a major objective of President Donald Trump, who has called for a change of regime in the country, exhorting Iranians in his speech Saturday to “take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations.” The post Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Dead, Israel Says appeared first on The American Conservative.

President Trump just did his first interview since his war with Iran began overnight, telling Axios that he’s got several different options for “off ramps” to end the war. He also said . . .