WASHINGTON (CNN) – Protection for former Vice President Dick Cheney has been extended, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirmed to CNN Tuesday.
Donovan would not say for how long the extension will last. The extension, reportedly requested by Cheney, went through the standard process and was officially authorized by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano July 17, according to DHS spokeswoman Sara Kuban.
The extension was not based on a specific threat against the former vice president, CNN has also learned. Rather, officials believed the move was justified given the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, political debate about the Bush administration's strategies and Cheney's active public schedule, according to a government official with knowledge of the matter.
Ordinarily, former vice presidents only receive Secret Service protection for the first six months after leaving office. DHS told CNN this is the first time a former vice president's security detail has been extended beyond the standard duration.
–CNN's John King, Kevin Bohn, and Martina Stewart contributed to this report.
(Updated 5:45 pm with DHS comment)
From CNN Politics
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Cheney's showing us what a scared little man he really is. What a coward.
And pay for his security from tax payors' money, we reckon? His only security will be a dark dungeon, where nobody will dare to approach him. If at all anybody does, that person will be shot first and questions will follow later.
He will need lifetime protection. One hopes that will be months, not years.
They should get lifetime protection, not phased out protection.
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Even for Obama? Who Im sure you're a huge fan of...Im happy this fool isnt talking anymore...he disgraced this country enough...both here and abroad...
NO, the country cannot afford spending money to protect this ingrate. He has his gun, he can protect himself. Where does he think the money is coming from for the extended protection? Maybe now that protection is extended, we will see another round of his slack jaw spewing lies. Just another clear abuse of the system, thinking he is above all the other VPs who left office.
Maybe Darth Cheney should hire the crazies at Blackwater, or whatever letter they're called now.
i think he needs protection from himself.
Why doesnt he use the "force" for protection!
Please protect Dick Cheney!! I don't care what it costs.
I do not want this animal to be made a martyr to his regressive, inbred cause.
Robin – sad how ignorant you are...
cheney requested it.......obama could have denied or aopprove it
This is odd that he would feel his life would be in danger!
EVERY republican I talk to raves about how well he did while in office and how we as Americans owe so much to his service.
I guess that speaks volumes about the mindset of the typical republican!!!
Need to be on trial thats it
It's Old Dick "DARKSEID!" Cheney At It Again, The Man Who Hates The Way The President Is Running The Country So Much So That He's Getting Extra Secret Service Protection. ...Aww!
WOW!!!!!!!!
Now he wants protection, where was VALERIE PLAME'S PROTECTION from him, for exposing her idenity??????
SEND HIM TO JAIL!!!
Theres PLENTY of tax payers protection in there!!!!
His buddies at Haliburton should kick in to cover the expense. After all, he awarded them BILLIONS to do work which was incomplete. Haliburton must have a few million to kick back to Cheney from those savings.
hoyer=party politics July 21st, 2009 3:57 pm ET
Probably needs it with so many lib crazies out there….
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I wouldn't think a Liberal with an advanced degree, an intelligent global perspective and who has traveled, worked or lived abroad would want to threaten the former Vice-President. To see him prosecuted, disgraced and imprisoned, Yes. In fact, much of the world is waiting for that day.
A 'crazie' as you put it would probably not possess any of the above-listed attributes and would most likely be some dime-a-dozen uneducated Republican and/or Conservative Christian slack jaw white trash bigot like the ones caught on video...
Then he should publicly thank Obama for his compassion.
Or maybe we just want to keep him alive long enough to be sent to PRISON.
If you read the notes from the blogggers on CNN ticker, you get a feel for why this is probably necessary. These blogger sites are cannon fodder for the misaligned brains that occasionally hyperventilate here.
I believe that all Presidents and Vice Presidents deserve secret service protection forever to protect them from the nut jobs on there.
So how much longer do American taxpayers have to foot the bill for this war criminal? The perceived threat is not from Iraq or Afghanistan, it's from fed-up US citizens who can see through Cheney's endless lies and illegal actions.
I can't believe that Cheney is scared.
By the way, for those that occasionally mention Cheney and Halliburton, I do believe that Haliburton was first tied to Clinton in Bosnia...anyone care to confirm?
He will be fully Protected in Jail.
No protection for War Criminal Cheney. Lock him up and let his fellow prisoners protect him...ha ha ha!
I do not want a penny of taxpayer money to go to protect that scumbag.