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(CNN) – Dick Cheney's decision to weigh in on the Republican intra-party battle in Texas - a rare primary season endorsement by the former vice president - is an attempt to help challenger Kay Bailey Hutchison shore up her conservative credentials and attract undecided GOP voters, according to two knowledgeable GOP sources.

The former vice president teamed up with Hutchinson in Houston Tuesday to officially endorse her gubernatorial bid. The Texas senator is taking on two-term incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in next year's Republican primary.

One source notes that Cheney and Hutchison have a longstanding relationship that goes back to the days when they were both in Dallas, a time when Cheney served as Halliburton CEO.

The political calculation behind Tuesday's move is the hope that Cheney can help the senator win over undecided Republican voters in a state where the Bush administration's seal of approval may hold more sway than anywhere else. "The two most popular people in Texas are George and Barbara Bush - and Cheney isn't far behind," says one source close to Texas politics.

Perry, according to his campaign, has already won a re-election nod from the person who had hoped to succeed Cheney - Sarah Palin.

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(CNN) - Dick Cheney is weighing in on the Republican intra-party battle in Texas
The former vice president teams up with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson at Houston's Hobby Airport Tuesday afternoon to officially endorse her bid for Texas governor.

Hutchinson is challenging two-term incumbent Rick Perry in next year's Republican Party primary. Perry has already won a re-election nod from the person who had hoped to succeed Cheney, Sarah Palin - last year's GOP vice presidential nominee.

While Cheney's favorable ratings among all Americans remain low, he's still well liked by conservative voters, who are crucial in a Republican primary battle.

Last week Hutchinson, who previously said she would resign her senate seat to run for governor, announced she will remain in the Senate as she seeks the gubernatorial nomination.

– CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn

Washington (CNN) – Former vice president Dick Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he had no idea who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, according to newly released FBI documents.

Cheney was questioned as part of an investigation on how journalists came to know the identity of Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was a critic of the Iraq war.

In the interview, Cheney responded to many questions with "I do not recall."

However, he took a few stabs at the CIA in its handling of White House allegations that Iraq was attempting to purchase uranium from Niger to manufacture nuclear weapons.

Wilson was dispatched to Niger on a CIA assignment to explore the charges and later said that the Bush administration was twisting facts to support an invasion of Iraq. He implied in a newspaper article that his trip was at the behest of the vice president.

Cheney's reaction to the article was that it was "amateur hour" at the CIA, according to the FBI documents, released after the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a watchdog group in Washington, sued under the Freedom of Information Act. The 28-page summary of the Cheney interview was made public more than five years after it took place.

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(CNN) - Two-term Texas Gov. Rick Perry has already gotten a re-election nod from Sarah Palin, last year's GOP vice presidential nominee. Now primary rival Kay Bailey Hutchison is snagging the endorsement of the man Palin was running to replace.

The Hutchison campaign confirmed Wednesday that former Vice President Dick Cheney - whose low approval ratings might mark him a political liability in most other parts of the country - is endorsing Hutchison's bid, and will raise money for her in Houston on Nov. 17.

Hutchison, who has said she plans to resign her Senate seat but hasn't yet revealed when that might occur, is planning to challenge Perry in next year's Republican primary.

NEW YORK (CNN)– Controversial freshman Rep. Alan Grayson, who has become famous for attacking the Republicans' health care plan, went on the attack again Friday night, calling former Vice President Dick Cheney a vampire for his recent criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the war in Afghanistan.

"I have trouble listening to what [Cheney] says sometimes because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he's talking," the Florida Democrat said on MSNBC's Hardball Friday night. "But my response is this: he's just angry because the president doesn't shoot old men in the face. But by the way, when he was done speaking, did he just then turn into a bat and fly away?"

In a hard-hitting, wide-ranging speech last Wednesday, Cheney targeted the administration's decision-making process on how to proceed in Afghanistan, saying Obama has failed to give troops on the ground a clear mission or defined goals and appeared "afraid to make a decision."

"The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in danger," Cheney said at the Center for Security Policy. "Make no mistake, signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries."

In responding to Cheney's attack, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday got in a jab of his own.

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(CNN) - White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs fired back Thursday at the latest criticisms from Dick Cheney, and suggested the Bush administration did not send U.S. troops into foreign conflicts responsibly.

"What Vice President Cheney calls 'dithering,' President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public," Gibbs said. "I think we've all seen what happens when someone doesn't take that responsibility seriously."

Gibbs' comments come a day after the former vice president issued a blistering a wide-ranging critique of the Obama administration's foreign policy, saying Obama appears "afraid to make a decision" when it comes to troop levels in Afghanistan, and the president's indecision is "hurt[ing] our allies and emboldening our adversaries."

In his comments Thursday, Gibbs said the delay over a troop decision in Afghanistan is largely due to the fact the Bush administration did not adequately assess the conditions in the country ahead of sending troops there.

"I think it is a curious comment," Gibbs also said, "I think it is pretty safe to say that the vice president was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan. Even more curious given the fact that an increase in troops sat on desks in this White House including the vice president's for more than eight months - a resource request filled by President Obama in March."

"I find it interesting that he's blaming us for something that he didn't see fit to do over, best I can tell, seven years of a war in Afghanistan," he added.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back Thursday at former Vice President Dick Cheney's comment that President Barack Obama seems "afraid to make a decision" about his strategy in Afghanistan.

Asked by a reporter about Cheney's remark, made in a speech Wednesday, Pelosi sharply answered, "That's really not a dignified question. ... I mean Vice President Cheney's.

"The president has a very difficult decision to make. He's got to have the facts to make that. We all pray for the difficult decision he has to make. I don't think it's very constructive for the vice president to say that - he's forgotten whose administration made matters worse in Afghanistan by their neglect."

Speaking at her weekly news conference, Pelosi rejected the argument made by several Republicans that the time Obama is taking to formulate his strategy is endangering U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

"Our troops in Afghanistan are at risk because from 2001 until (the end of) the entire Bush administration we looked the other way in Afghanistan. There was never a plan," she said.

Pelosi said she supports giving Obama more time to announce a decision about troops.

"The president should not make any decision any sooner than he has the right information to do so," she said.

(CNN) - After a summer in which Dick Cheney dialed back his attacks on President Obama's national security polices, the former vice president told a conservative gathering Wednesday that the Obama administration had damaged America's relationship with key allies, dangerously wavered in Afghanistan, undermined progress in Iraq, and intentionally sabotaged the Bush administration's national security legacy.

In the hard-hitting and wide-ranging speech at Center for Security policy, Cheney targeted the new administration's decision-making process on how to proceed in Afghanistan, saying Obama has failed to give troops on the ground a clear mission or defined goals, and appeared "afraid to make a decision."

"The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in danger," Cheney said. "Make no mistake, signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries."

Cheney also targeted White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who suggested to CNN's John King on "State of the Union" on Sunday that the previous administration had failed to adequately assess conditions in Afghanistan before committing troops there.

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(CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney is undergoing surgery on his back Thursday, his office announced.

"Former Vice President Cheney went to The George Washington University Hospital this morning for elective surgery to deal with lumbar spinal stenosis. Dr. Anthony Caputy, Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery, will perform the operation," a spokeswoman said.

(CNN) - The Democratic National Committee is taking aim at Dick Cheney over his string of high-profile media appearances during which the former vice president has been highly critical of President Obama's national security policies.

In a new 30-second television ad set for national cable and local cable in Washington, the DNC asserts many of Cheney's statements have been incorrect - particularly those in which he has argued enhance interrogation techniques conclusively yielded intelligence.

That ad compares those recent statements to ones he made in the leadup to the Iraq war, when he declared Americans would be "greeted as liberators" and that he was sure Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"Dick Cheney, wrong then, wrong now," the ad states.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Vice President Dick Cheney had his facts wrong when he blasted Attorney General Eric Holder last week for launching an investigation into past CIA interrogation techniques, an administration official asserted Monday.

Holder's decision to review waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques was politically motivated, Cheney claimed in remarks broadcast on FOX News Sunday. Cheney made clear in the interview, conducted last Friday, that he believes President Barack Obama directed Holder to launch the review in response to pressure from left-wing Democrats.

But the administration official, who asked not to be identified, said, "The attorney general made a determination independently, based on the facts and the law."

The official also objected to Cheney's statement that "the president is the chief law enforcement officer in the land."

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(CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the Justice Department's decision to review waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques is politically motivated.

Cheney said he opposes the decision by Attorney General Eric Holder to ask a former prosecutor to review CIA interrogations of high-profile terrorism suspects.

Cheney made clear he believes President Obama directed Holder to launch the review because the president is feeling pressure from left-wing Democrats. Cheney said the review will undermine the willingness of CIA personnel to conduct necessary operations.

"I think it's a terrible decision," Cheney said on "Fox News Sunday." "It's clearly a political move. There's no other rationale for why they're doing this."

He criticized Obama for allowing a review considering the president previously said that CIA operatives involved in the interrogations would not be prosecuted. "I think he's trying to duck responsibility for what's going on here, and I think it's wrong," Cheney said.

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Updated: 2:43 p.m.

(CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he was "probably" the strongest advocate in the Bush administration of a military strike against Iran's nuclear program.

Cheney told FOX News Sunday in an interview conducted Friday that he believed the military threat was crucial to negotiations with Iran on ending its efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

"I was probably a bigger advocate of military action than any of my colleagues," Cheney said. "I think it was very important that the military option be on the table. I felt that negotiations couldn't possibly succeed unless the Iranians believed the military option was on the table."

Asked if he opposed former President George W. Bush's decision to enter negotiations with Iran and European nations on the issue, Cheney said he would discuss the matter further in an upcoming book on his life.

However, he said a recent Washington Post story that reported he will criticize Bush in his book was wrong.

"We had policy differences, no question about that," Cheney said. "But to say that I was disappointed with the president isn't the way it ought to be phrased."

When asked again if he believed that Bush went "soft" in his second term, as reported in the Washington Post story, Cheney replied: "No, I'm not going to speculate on it. I'm going to write a book that lays out my view of what we did."

(CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney is again taking aim at President Obama, issuing a statement Monday suggesting the administration's decision to name a prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogations under President Bush fuels "doubts about this administration's ability to be responsible for our nation's security."

"The people involved deserve our gratitude," Cheney said in the statement. "They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions."

The former vice president also said documents released Monday prove enhanced interrogation techniques yielded valuable information that "provided the bulk of intelligence we gained about al Qaeda."

"This intelligence saved lives and prevented terrorist attacks," Cheney said. "These detainees also, according to the documents, played a role in nearly every capture of al Qaeda members and associates since 2002."

"The activities of the CIA in carrying out the policies of the Bush Administration were directly responsible for defeating all efforts by al Qaeda to launch further mass casualty attacks against the United States," he added.

Related: Cheney says documents show interrogations prevented attacks

Late Monday, the government released declassified CIA documents originally requested last May by Cheney. The former vice president had argued they would show enhanced interrogation techniques saved lives.

While analysis in the documents says information from detainee interrogations "helped thwart a number of al-Qaida plots" and "arrests...disrupted attack plans in progress," it remains unclear from the heavily redacted documents whether that information was obtained through the enhanced interrogation techniques Cheney defends.

The documents' release came the same day Attorney General Eric Holder asked federal prosecutor John Durham to examine whether CIA interrogations of suspected terrorists were illegal after the release of a 2004 CIA inspector general's report into further questionable interrogation techniques.

(CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney is standing by his efforts in the final days of the Bush administration to secure a presidential pardon for I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, calling his former chief of staff an "honorable man and a faithful public servant."

"Scooter Libby is an innocent man who was the victim of a severe miscarriage of justice," the former vice president said in a statement. "He was not the source of the leak of Valerie Plame's name. Former Deputy Secretary of State, Rich Armitage, leaked the name and hid that fact from most of his colleagues, including the President."

"Mr. Libby is an honorable man and a faithful public servant who served the President, the Vice President and the nation with distinction for many years," Cheney also said. "He deserved a presidential pardon."

The statement comes as Time magazine reported Friday the extent to which Cheney unsuccessfully pressed former President Bush to grant Libby a pardon.

According to the magazine, securing the pardon had "had become something of a crusade for Cheney, who seemed prepared to push his nine-year-old relationship with Bush to the breaking point - and perhaps past it."

Libby was convicted of obstructing a federal investigation into the revelation that Valerie Plame Wilson was a CIA agent. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000. Bush commuted the sentence, which he called "excessive," but refused to issue a full pardon.

CNN's Kevin Bohn contributed to this report

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)

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)

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A one-time aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney suggested Sunday that recent reports about Cheney and the CIA are a distraction designed to avert attention away from the policy struggles of the Obama administration.

Related: Cheney and alleged secret CIA program 'a problem,' Senator says

“This is very suspect timing,” Republican strategist and former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “The president’s agenda is almost in shambles. His [poll] numbers are dropping. Isn’t it coincidental; they gin up a Cheney story.”

Matalin also said that the Executive branch has some authority under the nation’s intelligence laws to not disclose information to Congress under certain circumstances. “The more people that know, the more it leaks . . . and then the enemy knows what it is,” Matalin said of details about other intelligence programs that were leaked to the media.

“Every time they get in trouble . . . they dredge up a Darth Vader story,” Matalin also said, making a reference to past comparisons between Cheney and the villain in the “Stars Wars’ movies.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) – A one-time aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney suggested Sunday that recent reports about Cheney and the CIA are a distraction designed to avert attention away from the policy struggles of the Obama administration.

Related: Cheney and alleged secret CIA program 'a problem,' Senator says

“This is very suspect timing,” Republican strategist and former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “The president’s agenda is almost in shambles. His [poll] numbers are dropping. Isn’t it coincidental; they gin up a Cheney story.”

Matalin also said that the Executive branch has some authority under the nation’s intelligence laws to not disclose information to Congress under certain circumstances. “The more people that know, the more it leaks . . . and then the enemy knows what it is,” Matalin said of details about other intelligence programs that were leaked to the media.

“Every time they get in trouble . . . they dredge up a Darth Vader story,” Matalin also said, making a reference to past comparisons between Cheney and the villain in the “Stars Wars’ movies.
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