" Are we going to say it is then ok for him to lie to the FBI..."
Innocent until proven guilty. No underlying crime. I'll give Libby benefit of the doubt. The trial will tell.
It'll never go to trial. The reason R's plea bargain in cases like this is that it will be before a Washington DC jury. If polls are correct, over 60% of the jury believes that the CIA created the AIDS virus to kill black men. It's not too hard to convict a white Republican of anything in front of that jury.