It didn't happen. The entire claim that "Wilson was falsely claiming his trip was requested by VP" is fabricated.
I have to wonder why some folks are so invested in memes that can't be supported by evidence.
I have to wonder why you post on Free Republic. You have a very twisted way of looking at every situation on which you choose to comment. I had reservations about responding to you at all on this thread, and I won't do it again.
I don't think you'll find what you're hoping to find here. Why on earth would this administration, or anyone in it, say at any time, "Hey! Let's send Joe Wilson to find out if this yellowcake thing is true or not!" Real life doesn't work like that.
No, from quite early on, Joe wanted to leave the impression that he was still important enough in these circles that the OVP would indeed send him to do this task. You won't find a quote because it's all been innuendo.
Is there a big difference between saying, "The OVP made inquiries to the CIA, and so the CIA sent me", and "The OVP made inquiries to the CIA to send me"? Well, yeah, in retrospect. But as Silverleaf notes in post 8, this was really about Joe puffing up his ego and buffing his reputation. Those little intricacies were not his focus at the time.
Quite really, the last thing he wanted was for this to be known, as Silverleaf so eloquently put it, as "Joe's big sweet mint tea adventure".
Unfortunately for him, it has.
CA....