How to Understand the $13 Billion JPMorgan Settlement

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Felix Salmon has a pretty good take on JPMorgan’s $13 billion settlement with the government. Roughly speaking, $10 billion of it is for liabilities that JPM knew it was inheriting when it purchased Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns—liabilities that were fully incorporated into the original purchase price. The remaining $3 billion covers fines for actions taken directly under Jamie Dimon’s watch. There’s no SEC overreach here, and there are no unfair penalties for actions taken by companies that the government encouraged JPM to buy. More here.

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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