McCain Assures of Thorough Palin Vetting

John McCain, speaking with CNN's Dana Bash, indicates that his campaign organization put Alaska Governor Sarah Palin through a rigorous vetting process:

John McCain said Tuesday his vice presidential vetting process was thorough, as his campaign tried to calm concern that more surprises about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin were coming.

"My vetting process was completely thorough, and I'm thankful for the results," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said during a stop at a fire station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The McCain campaign said it was aware in advance of two items it revealed on Monday: Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is about five months pregnant and Palin's husband, Todd, had a DUI conviction 22 years ago.

A source intimately involved in the vetting process of McCain's choice for vice president called CNN to give an account of Palin's background check.

This official said a 25-person team, led by Washington attorney A.B. Culvahouse, started by compiling reports on 20 top vice presidential contenders, using only public documents like disclosure forms, public records, newspaper articles and interview transcripts.

That information was eventually presented to McCain, and to top campaign advisers Mark Salter, Steve Schmidt, Charlie Black and Rick Davis - the only four aides involved in the highly secretive process.

Once McCain and those aides narrowed the choices to a short list, Palin and other contenders were contacted and asked for documents, including a credit check, tax returns and additional financial disclosure forms.

The official told CNN that all of those on the short list - including Palin - were asked to answer 70 "intrusive" questions, including "Have you ever paid for sex?" and "Have you ever been fairly or unfairly accused of sexual harassment?"

The questions were also described as some basic queries now asked of presidential nominees, like whether they ever hired illegal workers or neglected to pay taxes for nannies.

In one of her answers, Palin told McCain aides about her husband's DUI arrest 22 years ago.

Then Culvahouse, along with a few associates, interviewed Palin for three hours. During that interview, she revealed her teenage daughter's pregnancy -- and was warned it would become public if she were picked.

"She said she'd have those conversations with her daughter," the source said.

From the start of the vetting process, one red flag was a state investigation into whether Palin improperly dismissed Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner for not firing her ex-brother-in-law.

CNN was told that McCain investigators spent considerable time looking into the so-called "Troopergate" affair - interviewing Palin's lawyer and quietly talking to others involved - and decided the facts were on her side.

Note, as well, Tom Blumer's account at Pajamas Media, where he links to a Wizbang post indicating that Culvahouse was seen in Juneau, Alaska, in May of this year.

Read Blumer's piece in full. He raises a red flag over today's hot news item, Elizabeth Bumiller's New York Times piece looking into the "questions" surround the Palin vetting.

See also Patrick Ruffini, "It's Not the Pregnancy. It's the Vetting."