I can understand the instinctive reaction, though. Wait for people to calm down a little. Breaking news does things to people.
I was wracking my brain to figure out why he would tell such an obvious and checkable (see notes) lie.
It would be rational if he were trying to keep the GJ from calling Cheney. If he'd said right off, "Cheney told me", then the veep would have been before the committee. Now, Libby gets all the heat.
I can't say it was a bad strategy, given the dog and pony show it's become.
I think Libby was dumb in leaking to the NY Times to start with when Cooper was married to a Clintonite. I don't see where Cheney would have had a problem since he is not the one that leaked to reporters. Maybe I am missing something.