Inside Hillary Clinton's covert operation that vetted Tim Kaine

PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton’s journey to choosing Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate reached its clandestine end with her campaign chairman, John Podesta, and his chief of staff, Sara Latham, sitting in a parked car on a secluded beach in Newport, R.I., the night before she made the announcement.

As the Virginia senator is due to address the Democratic convention on Wednesday, an inside look at the Clinton’s covert operations team — dubbed the “prize patrol” after the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes — shows the lengths to which the nominee’s campaign went to keep her running mate a secret until the very last moment.

It also helps explain how the Clinton 2016 campaign has kept a lid on leaks, as opposed to her failed campaign in 2008, when internal staff tensions spilled into sometimes embarrassing headlines. And it stands in contrast to her Republican opponent Donald Trump, whose final vice presidential deliberations were splashed across newspapers and who even had his convention speech leak out into the press.

Latham is the woman behind Podesta, who is the man behind Clinton. She is a longtime Democratic fixer: Summoned in 1996 to help choreograph Bill Clinton’s reelection campaign and again in 2008 when she helped Podesta sneak President Obama’s cabinet prospects in for secret interviews.

Latham, who shares an office with Podesta, was the point person between James Hamilton, a partner at the law firm Morgan Lewis who was in charge of Clinton’s vetting process, and the campaign itself. A week before Clinton made her announcement in Miami, fewer than 10 people inside the campaign knew who the finalists were, Podesta told USA TODAY Tuesday.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

“She (Clinton) had no interest in trial balloons for the sake of seeing them shot down,” Podesta said. “She only wanted to deal with people who she might seriously consider … and she didn’t want anybody embarrassed in the process by being thrown out or kicked to the curb.”

That’s where Latham came in.

Who is Tim Kaine? A closer look at the Virginia senator

Here are a few examples of the precautions she took to keep the press in the dark over a period of months that began shortly after Clinton’s April 19 New York primary victory over Sen. Bernie Sanders.

At least 15 separate law firms were contracted to vet candidates, with separate teams within those firms assigned to a single candidate, so no one knew the complete list. Latham printed out the finished reports on an empty floor of the campaign headquarters in Brooklyn before shipping them to Clinton’s home in Chappaqua.

Graphic designer Jennifer Kinon may have gotten the brunt of the campaign’s efforts to keep the merry-go-round going. She was told to create eight different signs combining Clinton’s name with her theoretical number two, and eight more using first names only, since she’s been going by “Hillary.”

Clinton’s initial list included 28 prospects, a number with business backgrounds or without traditional political experience. After an initial review, it was winnowed to 12, and nine of those were given what the campaign calls “deep vets” that include a review of tax documents. Retired admiral James Stavridis was the only non-political name to make it that far. Others include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Labor secretary Tom Perez, and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.

No process is perfect. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper was literally chased by members of the press waiting outside Clinton’s Washington residence when he came for a Friday visit. The following day, Kaine was ferried in a car with tinted windows for lunch at Clinton’s home in Chappaqua.

While there was much speculation about a Kaine pick, no final decision was made until the Friday before the convention. In fact, in addition to Latham’s plan that included hiding out at a Newport beach, there were two other candidates whose movements were being tracked by the campaign. (Podesta would not say who these candidates were.)

Clinton calls Kaine 'my kind of guy,' as Democratic ticket makes its debut

Clinton’s right-hand aide, Huma Abedin, was particularly concerned reporters would break the story by spotting Podesta. The night before the big announcement, Podesta left his office in a freight elevator and was ferried in an SUV to the airport tarmac in Teterboro, N.J. He and Latham then drove to the beach in Rhode Island while Kaine wrapped up his rally, before traveling to his hotel to deliver the news.

Around 2 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, Kaine landed in Miami with his wife, a speech draft and two new staff members.

Podesta and his special operations partner Latham "each had a red wine and did a high five,” Podesta said.