As noted above

    Fitzgerald does not allege in his filing that Cheney ordered Libby to disclose Plame's identity.


Furthermore, as the article later goes on to point out, it seems as if Cheney's concerns may have been more about Wilson having a conflict of interest than anything else

    "Have they done this sort of thing before?" Cheney wrote. "Send an amb[assador] to answer a question? Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us? Or did his wife send him on a junket?"


Granted, none of that is a defense for Libby if Libby committed perjury. However, it does tend to confirm what some have said all along: that this was less a deliberate attempt to "out" a "covert" agent, and more of a discussion of whether Wilson was, in fact, qualified for the job in the first place.