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A key witness in the federal investigation connected to Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) has gone missing.

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It looks like the Middle East in all its dimensions and players is intruding itself onto the US presidential election tonight. First, the Netanyahu government trying to hardball the White House by using the threat of meddling in the election to force the White House’s hand; and Netanyahu getting a swift brushback from the White House. And more to come on fights over what happened today at US Embassies in Cairo and Benghazi.

We’ll have more shortly.

We have a high-octane tussle tonight between the White House and the Netanyahu government in Israel. It started with a Netanyahu speech suggesting that the US had lost its “moral right” to block an Israeli attack on Iran by failing to put red lines beyond which Iran couldn’t go.

That was followed by a leak from Netanyahu’s team claiming that Netanyahu had requested a meeting with Obama when he travels to the UN — only to be refused. The White House scrambled tonight putting out a flat denial of that claim. In essence, the White House called the Israelis liars. Read More

See below for my quick take on the dynamics of what’s happening tonight between the White House and the Netanyahu government.

Regardless of the particular in and outs, though, here’s why this is ominous. Given the highly politicized nature of the crisis, the White House really, really, really does not want to get into blowup right now with the Israeli government. Not less than 60 days before a national election. Just as much they want to keep unified pressure on the Iranians. The fact that they’re walking right into one suggests they feel they have no choice.

As one reader just said, this has the feel of an endgame on the long drama over an attack on Iran.

As noted, we have two simultaneous crises washing over Washington tonight from the Middle East. First, the US-Israel blow up, which I discussed below. Next, riots which escalated into full-scale attacks on US embassies in Cairo and Benghazi, triggered by another stunt by Quran-burning ‘pastor’ Terry Jones down in Florida.

A State Department officer was actually killed in the attack on the compound in Benghazi.

In the midst of this, the Romney campaign put out this statement …

“I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

So Romney jumps to politicize a genuine crisis in which a Foreign Service Officer has been killed. And the attack itself is based on a falsehood. The reference is to a statement released by the Embassy in Egypt which in fact came out before the attacks took place. The entire thing is based on a lie. Here’s our full story.

Desperate about the state of the presidential race, RNC Chair Reince Priebus tweets this moments ago …

Obama sympathizes with attackers in Egypt.Sad and pathetic.

— Reince Priebus (@Reince) September 12, 2012

This would be doubling down on the Romney campaign’s lie from two hours ago.

Reports this morning that the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, has been killed in an attack in Benghazi. Details are still sketchy, but Reuters’ account suggests Stevens and other State Department staff were fleeing the consulate, after the earlier attack on the consulate which killed a staffer, when their car came under rocket attack. Three others were also reportedly killed in the attack on Stevens’ vehicle.

The State Department has not yet confirmed the second attack, or the death of Stevens and the additional staffers.