JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's complicated relationship with Washington On a mild evening in early September, Jamie Dimon welcomed guests as they streamed onto a rooftop venue known as the Flying Bridge overlooking Union Station and the Capitol. The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase was hosting a reception for clients, philanthropic partners and government officials, including five members of Congress. ¶ Yet there was little cause for celebration. ¶ Weeks earlier, JPMorgan had revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing a list of state and federal inquiries that covered nearly every corner of its business empire. On the very day that Dimon's guests were taking in the intoxicating view, the bank was negotiating a series of costly prestige-damaging settlements. ¶ Dimon, who lives in New York, had come to Washington to speak at an annual meeting for investors held by the private-equity firm Carlyle Group. But he also met with reporters and visited the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which was pursuing at least three investigations into JPMorgan. ¶ When it comes to Washington, Dimon rarely performs on a single stage. In his three-decade career, the 57-year-old banker has played the roles of adviser, savior, shrewd negotiator, lobbyist and victim . Variously described as brilliant and condescending, forceful and abrasive, astute and cunning, he is a powerful - but not invulnerable - presence. The record-breaking settlement he is expected to reach soon with the Justice Department - including $4 billion already announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency - will do little to alter his multifaceted relationship with Washington. Dimon still seeks and commands the attention and respect of most lawmakers, while battling regulators, haggling over settlements and trying to mold legislation. The arc of Dimon's relationship with Washington appears to have brought him to a point not so far from where he stood five years ago - sorting through the wreckage of financial wrongdoing and bargaining for the best deal possible for the bank. Gone, though, is the formerly common talk - however unfounded, according to administration insiders - of him being Obama's favored banker or a candidate for a Cabinet office. Dimon declined to comment on the record for this article. But Peter Scher, global head of corporate responsibility at JPMorgan, said Dimon and the bank remain important Washington actors. "We're continuing to play the role we think we should play in terms of being a constructive part of policy discussions," Scher said. Jamie and our management team do a lot of outreach with our regulators and continue to spend time on the Hill. We have not waned at all in our activity in D.C. That includes reaching out to key members of Congress. In the crowd at the Flying Bridge reception were Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.). Maloney, the number two Democrat on the House financial services committee, attended even though Dimon's wife backed her 2010 primary challenger, Reshma Saujani.