WASHINGTON (AP) – New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer accused federal regulators Monday of going behind his back to negotiate with radio companies caught in a “payola” scandal, and saying the move undercuts the case he’s been building for years.

Spitzer told The Associated Press the settlement figures being bandied about in the federal negotiations “would be a substantial evisceration of the negotiations we’re involved in.”

Negotiations between radio companies and the Federal Communications Commission have included possible payments of about $1 million per company, said an official familiar with the talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are secret and have not been finalized. Spitzer’s lawyers, by contrast, have been seeking a figure closer to $20 million from each company, the official said.

Sony’s music arm has already agreed to pay $10 million to settle with Spitzer, and Warner Music agreed to a $5 million settlement.

Even if the radio companies strike their own bargains with the FCC, such deals would not prevent Spitzer’s office from continuing to press their own cases.

Spitzer targeted nine of the nation’s largest radio conglomerates in his probe of major artists and songs that he claims received air time because of payoffs by recording companies, and accused the Federal Communications Commission of being “asleep at the switch.”

He discussed the case after giving a speech Monday to the Building and Trades Department of the AFL-CIO labor union.

The attorney general, a Democrat running for governor, charged that instead of helping his case, the FCC is actively working against him.

“We have asked them several times to participate and they have not only not done that, but they are now furtively going out there negotiating behind our backs,” he told the AP.

“This is not the way government agencies should deal with each other, but it’s what I’ve come to expect from this FCC,” adding that his office has shared all of its payola information with the feds.

FCC spokesman David Fiske insisted the agency would work with Spitzer, but he did not directly address Spitzer’s charges.

“The commission has always taken its responsibilities to enforce the laws seriously,” said Fiske. “For many months we have been actively pursuing allegations of payola on the part of radio broadcasters. We appreciate cooperation with the New York Attorney General’s office and look forward to working with the New York attorney general in the future.”