When Did Palin Lawyer Up, And When Did McCain Know It?

This article says that Sharia Palin confirmed her retention of a shyster on Monday, September 1, and that the mouthpiece wrote a letter to the Alaska Legislature's counsel dated Friday, August 29.

This article says that the vetting process ended on Thursday, August 28, and quotes McCain's head vetter as saying he "'spent a lot of time with [Palin's] lawyer'" on Troopergate before McCain made his pick. I'd say that, at a minimum, Palin had her mouthpiece in place one week before McCain offered her the opportunity to waste two months of her life.

What I'm really wondering: What did the McCain campaign dig up on Mittens, Holy Joe and Tim Pawlenty that made McCain think Palin was the safe pick?

P.S. to the Alaska Legislature: Those chit-chats between Palin's lawyer and the McCain campaign staff aren't privileged, nor are those 40+ page single-spaced reports. Subpoena accordingly.