Indeed, the lawyer thought nothing would come of the so-called outing but was wrong not because of the facts but because he wrongly assumed:
a marginally harmful leak such as the Plame disclosure wouldn’t be prosecuted simply because of the partisan political pressure being applied at the time by opponents of Bush administration policies in Iraq.
But that pressure was applied. And a man who didn't even "out" Plame--Libby--was sent to prison.
It was always obvious that the charges about Plame were ridiculous.
And I still haven't had it explained to my satisfaction why the buffoon Wilson was sent to Niger on what was supposed to be an important mission?
