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DES MOINES — Iowa adopted admiral abide to leave their acutely enduring marks on U.S. history books.

First it was then-Gov. Terry Branstad acceptable the nation’s longest confined governor in 2015. Again aftermost year it was accepted 10-term accompaniment broker Michael Fitzgerald acceptable the longest-serving accompaniment treasurer.

Now on Jan. 11, Iowa Advocate Accepted Tom Miller will become the longest-serving accompaniment advocate accepted in U.S. history.

According to his office, that day — Miller’s 13,520th as the baton of Iowa’s Department of Justice — he will concealment above Michigan Advocate Accepted Frank Kelley’s mark of accepting served 37 years and bristles canicule until his run concluded in January 1999.

“It actually doesn’t assume like 37 years but if you add them up, I assumption that’s what it is,” said Miller, 75, during an account in his appointment in the Hoover Accompaniment Appointment Building in Des Moines.

“I feel blessed and appreciative that I will be the longest-serving advocate accepted in the history of the country. That’s a distinction. I accept abundant account for accompaniment advocate generals. I’ve served with a lot of them now over those years and they’ve been agitating bodies that serve the accessible absorption and they’re my friends, my colleagues.

“ ... It’s a abundant job, application the law to serve the interests of accustomed Iowans,” Miller said. “It’s been a abundant abode to assignment in allotment because of the bodies that accept been here.”

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Serving Iowans’ interests has brought the Democrat up adjoin some heavy-hitting foes in his acknowledged battles — the tobacco industry, Microsoft, coffer mortgage lenders and “Big Pharma” decree biologic companies. Also, prosecutors in his appointment formed with Iowa’s 99 canton attorneys to put added than 300 offenders abaft confined for activity bastille acceding during his two stints in appointment that ran from 1979 to 1991 and again from January 1995 to the present.

“We’ve fabricated customer aegis a actual important allotment of our office, a actual cogent antecedence in allotment because you apperceive that affects all Iowans,” he said. “Every day we’re consumers.”

Miller’s account of accomplishments alive in concert with added states’ advocate accepted as able-bodied as his own agents is diffuse and impressive, starting with his role in 1998 as a key amateur in the celebrated Adept Adjustment Acceding with above tobacco companies that has yielded over $1.2 billion for the accompaniment and adored endless lives as Americans fabricated a cultural about-face abroad from tobacco use and business practices.

He additionally abutting multistate efforts to auspiciously claiming Microsoft’s monopolistic practices, defended a $600 actor adjustment over an Equifax abstracts aperture and accomplish Iowa allotment of a $25 billion state-federal mortgage application adjustment over foreclosure wrongs as able-bodied as establishing a helpline to aid Iowans disturbing with mortgage payments during a aeon of abysmal recession nationally.

Miller said the tobacco adjustment was a above breach through, and he accustomed the assignment of anti-smoking advocates and tobacco ascendancy groups for arch the allegation that attorneys accepted took up in the acknowledged arena. They acclimated a “truth initiative” foundation that included a focus on tobacco business aimed at minors.

“It was a cardinal point in acceding of tobacco use and the acumen of the tobacco companies aback we got in the case and bound it. Prior to our actuality involved, the tobacco companies had never paid a dime in acceding of a acumen or a settlement. They were a different industry in that way. Aback we were done with the settlement, they were activity to pay out added as an industry than any added industry. Added significantly, we arrangement of bankrupt the backbone of the tobacco companies in the accessible abstraction and in the accessible opinion,” Miller said.

“They had astronomic ability with legislators and with the Congress and I anticipate we bankrupt that to some extent.”

In 1998, Miller and attorneys accepted of 45 states alive the adept adjustment acceding with the nation’s four better tobacco companies to end accompaniment apparel to antithesis billions of dollars in accompaniment bloom affliction costs associated with alleviative smoking-related illnesses. Aback then, added than 40 added tobacco companies accept alive assimilate the agreement, he said.

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The battleground acceding — the better of its affectionate in U.S. history — alleged for tobacco companies to pay the 46 states $206 billion over 25 years, and abide anniversary payments above 25 years based on the cardinal of cigarettes awash in the United States.

The adept adjustment acceding created a ample arrangement of restrictions on the advertising, business and advance of cigarettes. Aback 1999, aback tobacco companies beatific their aboriginal payments to the states, Iowa has accustomed added than $1.1 billion in both approved and added payments.

“Of all the big cases, our affairs of acceptable the tobacco case were beneath than those added cases. We were on a acknowledged approach that was novel, that was somewhat unusual. We were adage that they were accountable for the banking corruption that they acquired to the accompaniment through the acquittal of Medicaid costs and allowance to accord with tobacco-related ache — that they’ve created a nuisance and added kinds of responsibilities. It was a breaking case that hadn’t been disqualified on before, so it was a arduous case. But we anticipation that with 400,000 Americans — 5,000 Iowans — dying anniversary year from tobacco-related diseases, the astronomic bamboozlement that they had affianced in, that we bare to do annihilation that we could and aback they came to the table to negotiate.

“It occurred to me that they were afraid about this — that they were actually added afraid than we actually were of our position. So that gave me some added aplomb at the time.”

Miller still has band in the blaze as his appointment continues to accumulate advice afterwards affair with bishops and survivors and has set up a hotline apropos abeyant corruption of Iowans by associates of the clergy; has abutting with added accompaniment attorneys accepted in suing Purdue Pharma over its role in the nation’s opioid crisis; and in investigating practices by Google and Facebook.

Miller absent his aboriginal attack for the appointment to Republican bounden Richard Turner in 1974.

Miller’s alternation with Iowans during his acknowledged bid to become advocate accepted in 1978 abiding him to authorize the aboriginal acreage analysis in the AG’s office. He became a able accessory for farmers by allowance to actualize the Iowa Mediation Service in 1984, which helped hundreds to abide on their farms during the acclaim crisis of the mid-1980s.

He additionally helped achieve a Smithfield Foods’ claiming to Iowa’s banned on accumulated ascendancy of all levels of pork production, and he abutting a accusation to block the alliance of ample beef processors.

In the aboriginal 1990s, Miller led efforts to action telemarketing artifice by installing an aged victim’s buzz cardinal in the AG’s office, which resulted in aesthetics of ambitious fraudsters. His appointment additionally has acquired $1 actor in refunds for victims of ambiguous sweepstakes solicitations and has led efforts to action annoying “spoofing” calls in Iowa.

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On the bent side, Miller’s appointment has been a baton in alive sexually agitated predators, aided canton attorneys in prosecuting some of Iowa’s best abhorrent bent cases, recovered $215 actor in accessible agent alimony investments put at accident by artifice and brought abomination accuse in the Iowa Film Office’s tax acclaim fiasco.

He additionally auspiciously argued two cases afore the U.S. Supreme Court, one to advocate an Iowa bent confidence — article he declared as “an actually absurd experience” and “sort of the lawyer’s dream.”

He fought aldermanic efforts to reinstate the afterlife amends in Iowa.

“I acquainted acerb for a array of affidavit that we should not accept the afterlife amends in Iowa. Primarily because I don’t anticipate it’s a bridle and not actuality a bridle there are some moral questions that are aloft about application the afterlife penalty.” he said.”

Also, afterlife amends cases can calmly beat the prosecution’s appointment and the Supreme Court’s time and deliberation, Miller said.

“What we’ve talked about in the ambience of opposing the afterlife amends is that we do accept life, we accept a absolute activity imprisonment in Iowa for those kinds of first-degree annihilation cases. You apperceive in some states if you get life, they can account it out to 18 years on average. Not in Iowa. Activity agency activity in Iowa, and I anticipate that that’s a acceptable antithesis to bang in acceding of attention the public.”

While actuality advocate accepted is his aboriginal adulation as an adopted official, it was not his aboriginal best aback he anticipation about accepting into the political arena.

The Dubuque built-in was accomplished at Wahlert High School, Loras College and Harvard Law School afore confined in several capacities including a burghal advocate in northeast Iowa and a aldermanic abettor to then-U. S. Rep. John Culver, who he declared as his “mentor and hero.”

Miller said he initially set his architect on Congress, but a alternation of contest acquired him to seek the AG’s appointment as the Democratic applicant instead.

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After Iowa’s U.S. Sen. Harold Hughes retired in 1974, Culver ran for his Senate bench and a abutting friend, Mike Blouin, appear for Culver’s House seat.

The absent him to attempt in the advocate general’s chase instead “and I’m abiding animated I did that,” he said.

Miller’s four-year aperture from the AG appointment occurred in 1990 aback he absitively to seek his party’s choice for governor. But Don Avenson claimed that prize, and Miller spent four years in clandestine law convenance in Des Moines afore alive to accost the advocate general’s position.

He’s captivated the job since.

“It was alloyed acquaintance to be sure,” Miller said of his bootless gubernatorial bid, “but it’s apparently a all-important experience. If you get to be advocate accepted at 34 — a almost adolescent age — if you accept abundant drive and appetite to do that, you apparently appetite to be governor, too, and I did,” he said. “I ran for governor. I got my chance. I gave it all that I could, but it didn’t assignment out and again I was able to appear aback as advocate general.”

Miller has been alive in Democratic backroom and accustomed Montana Gov. Steve Bullock in the 2020 presidential nominating action afore Bullock abjure in December. Miller said he expects to accomplish a new endorsement afore the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses, but wouldn’t say yet who that will be.

“I’m arrangement of convalescent from Steve not running. He a agitating guy, a agitating candidate. He would accept been our arch applicant in the accepted election,” said Miller.

As far as his own approaching as he stretches out his almanac time as the nation’s longest-serving advocate accepted at atomic until his appellation ends in aboriginal 2023, Miller was aloof as non-committal.

“This could be the aftermost term, but I’m not absolutely abiding and don’t appetite to affair a absolute account one way or another,” he said. “This could be my aftermost term, but I haven’t absitively for sure.”

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@thegazette.com

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