We are finally seeing righteous indignation is within the 50 state attorneys general settlement talks:

Another person close to the talks, who like several others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation more freely, said many in the group are “just exasperated. . . . This smear campaign of lies and innuendo, it’s uncalled for, it’s unprecedented, and it threatens substantial consumer harm.”

If you think this referred to the smears being launched by Wall Street and the Obama administration at NY AG Eric Schneiderman, you’d probably agree with it. But you’d be wrong. Apparently the push by Schneiderman, Beau Biden, Catherine Cortez Masto and other allies for a deal which doesn’t shut down their ability to investigate foreclosure and securities fraud is hurting Iowa AG Tom Miller’s fee-fees.

“We’ve been accused of being in bed with the banks. To say that to a group of people who have spent the last seven to 10 years fighting mortgage abuses day in and day out is an insult of the highest order,” said Iowa Assistant Attorney General Patrick Madigan, a longtime Miller deputy, who has worked on major settlements with subprime lenders such as Countrywide and Ameriquest. “It’s just unreal.”

I guess Miller’s office has a real problem when the entire New York Democratic congressional delegation chides him for tossing Schneiderman out of the talk’s executive committee. Instead of responding to Jerrold Nadler et alia, Miller is running to the press to complain about his unilateral, pro-bank actions coming under scrutiny.

The reason Miller is being accused of being in bed with banks is because that’s what you call it when you raise more than $250,000 from the finance industry right after announcing that you’re leading a 50 state investigation into that same industry. It happens when you then shift from guaranteeing to “put people in jail,” to producing a settlement term sheet before you even sat down to negotiate with the banks. It happens when you kick the individual who has done more to ensure that there is actually investigation before a settlement off the executive committee for having the temerity to try to get the best deal possible. If Tom Miller’s office doesn’t like being accused of being in bed with banks, he should get out of the bed and start investigating the banks.