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Perjury only comes into play if it is material to the underlying investigation. Although the underlying investigation also dealt with sources of leaks, Libby cannot be convicted of perjury for allegedly lying about his source unless it can also be shown that he knew Plame was a covert agent. It's a fine point of law but that's what I see in the leaks from unidentified lawyers close to the investigation, and all the prattling on about other issues by the likes of Fineman and O'Donnell yesterday.

You may choose to disbelieve it because of the source, but here is how the NY Times article explains Libby's potential jeopardy:

"It would not be illegal for either Mr. Cheney or Mr. Libby, both of whom are presumably cleared to know the government's deepest secrets, to discuss a C.I.A. officer or her link to a critic of the administration. But any effort by Mr. Libby to steer investigators away from his conversation with Mr. Cheney could be considered by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel in the case, to be an illegal effort to impede the inquiry.

The notes help explain the legal difficulties facing Mr. Libby. Lawyers in the case said Mr. Libby testified to the grand jury that he had first heard from journalists that Ms. Wilson may have had a role in dispatching her husband on a C.I.A.-sponsored mission to Africa in 2002 in search of evidence that Iraq had acquired nuclear material there for its weapons program. But the notes, now in Mr. Fitzgerald's possession, also indicate that Mr. Libby first heard about Ms. Wilson - who is also known by her maiden name, Valerie Plame - from Mr. Cheney. That apparent discrepancy in his testimony suggests why prosecutors are weighing false statement charges against him in what they interpret as an effort by Mr. Libby to protect Mr. Cheney from scrutiny, the lawyers said."

Those who continue to focus on the "but Plame wasn't undercover and that's the only thing Fitzgerald is allowed to investigate" mantra are ignoring that back in 2004 the acting attorney general had told Fitzgerald he could bring charges against anyone who impedes his investigation in any way. That's the letter that I have quoted from.