Baseball Crank’s question:

Was the whole effort triggered by an inquiry from the OVP or not?
Wilson says yes. And presumably he’s basing this on some knowledge of the situation. Nick Kristof said the same thing in his June 13th column in the Times, though it’s possible that Wilson was his source. But if there’s a factual dispute here, let’s find out. Is Wilson’s description of the OVP’s involvement accurate? In particular, did the OVP get Wilson’s eventual report? I think this is something a good investigative reporter with juice should be able to resolve for us pretty quickly. So, again, let’s find out.

My sources have told me that (1) there was no specific inquiry from the OVP, (2) no knowledge on the part of the OVP that Wilson was being sent on a mission, and (3) Wilson’s report was never received by the OVP.

Sources can sometimes mislead you and sources can sometimes be wrong (NB: NYT editors) but that’s what I have in my notebook.