Sam Antar, convicted felon and former CFO of Crazy Eddie, alleges at length that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is little more than an attack dog for Overstock.com's Patrick Byrne.

Antar, who has become a crusader against securities fraud and other issues, made a presentation at a white-collar crime conference sponsored by Shurtleff last summer. Shurtleff's office asked him specifically not to mention Byrne, who has been embroiled in a controversy over illegal short-selling. Antar likes to take shots at Byrne on message boards and in his blog.

Later, however, Antar visited the Securities and Exchange Commission office in Utah where he did discuss "issues relating to Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, and other persons working in collusion with him."

What followed was an exchange of public statements by the AG and Overstock.com denouncing Antar:

Why didn’t Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff simply email me or call me? Why didn’t Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff consult with his own subordinates about any agreements made between his office and me? Reason: Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was acting on behalf of his campaign contributor Overstock.com and its "loud mouth" CEO Patrick Byrne to defame me.

What makes this a little more interesting than the average rant is that Sam apparently recorded his conversations with Shurtleff's underlings.