Inside JPMorgan’s Year of Being Haunted by Jeffrey Epstein (2)

Jamie Dimon wasn’t going to be embarrassed into a settlement. As damaging revelations about the extent of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein trickled out of a lawsuit this year, his bank balked at paying up.

The longtime JPMorgan chief told colleagues he saw the fight as one of “principle.” He and others within the bank viewed the plaintiff — the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein had a private island — not as a victim, but instead complicit in the deceased sex offender’s crimes.

From the moment a year ago when the firm’s top brass was surprised ...