[Wendy44]

I've spent a lot of time searching for a quote that shows Wilson said Cheney sent him. I can't find it.

I won't rule out the possibility that Wilson was running his mouth with reporters early in the game and made that allegation off-the-record, though. Andrea Mitchell indicated that he was making that claim, but it's possible she doesn't actually remember the original allegation and is a victim of the media incorrectly repeating this over and over again.

I think it's a waste to use who sent Wilson in the "Wilson lied" argument because he did say publicly that the CIA sent him, not Cheney. The CIA is the one agency where nepotism is okay--better someone you've already cleared than someone you don't know. There was nothing inherently wrong with Plame recommending him--the only reason he seems to keep denying it is because he lied about it in the first place. He should have said, "Yeah, so?" and it wouldn't be an issue.

It needs to be hammered home that the whole reason Wilson was speaking out was that he claimed Cheney knew about his trip and his supposed findings. THAT's the big lie and the lie that needs to be debunked because it's the most damaging.

[Steve_Seattle]

"I think it's a waste to use who sent Wilson in the "Wilson lied" argument because he did say publicly that the CIA sent him, not Cheney."

Belated reply: In at least one speech, Wilson said that "the government, not the CIA" sent him, which is a strange way of putting it. The implication, I think, is that "the government" = "the Bush administration" = Cheney. So, without saying it directly, he is trying to make as close a connection possible between his mission and the White House. But even Gingrich had it wrong, as far as I can tell, when he went on Fox the other night and said that Wilson "lied" by claiming Cheney sent him to Niger. As you and others have pointed out, Wilson may never have said it directly; it was an inference drawn in some of the early media accounts.