IANAL but I believe that lying in an op-ed is not a criminal act. You can be sued in a civil action for publishing false information in any kind of article, but you cannot be criminally prosecuted for doing so. Whether or not a non criminal action resets the statute of limitations on any perjury or conspiracy charges in this case is something I don’t know.
They're creating a narrative of the consistency of their belief in the BS. Whether that covers them to any degree against a criminal action, I do not know. It certainly is poisoning a potential jury pool, especially in DC.