Both Cheney and Libby have security clearances to talk about whatever the hell they want to talk about. As long as they don't pass along any confidential information to outsiders, then whats the problem with talking about Plame or anybody else working in the CIA.
So you have two top level govt officials talking to each other about a CIA analyst (not a covert agent) who sent her husband on a highly questionable mission and they discuss it. So where's the crime? There isn't any.
I think that the NYT is living in the past, when whatever they say would never be challenged. CBS learned the hard way. The NYT is still hasn't learned it. But they will.
You could have a crime depending upon what was discussed (i.e., a conspiracy to dessiminate classified info to reporters). If Libby told the grand jury that he heard this from reporters and never spoke to Cheney about it (perjury). If Libby's assistant Hannah was the source for libby's notes and the existence of these was denied by Libby. Yeah, there COULD be a lot of crime there in that meeting (perjury).
You say that Plame was not a covert agent. What is the source on this? Help me here. I really want to know. I thought she headed up a fake company or something and was covert. If she wasn't covert why the DOJ investigation?