In an A1 piece today that examines the behind-the-scenes negotiations that went on between BP and the White House last week as the company agreed to set aside $20 billion to pay for oil spill damages, the Wall Street Journal thoroughly debunks the Fox News myth that BP was the victim of an Obama “shakedown,” or had been “bullied” into helping pay for the disaster. (i.e. Extortion!)

WSJ headline:

BP Blunted U.S. Demand

Lede [emphasis added]

BP PLC, despite being put under pressure by the U.S. government to pay for the oil-spill aftermath, has succeeded in pushing back on two White House proposals it considered unreasonable, even as it made big concessions, said officials familiar with the matter.

BP last week agreed to hand over $20 billion—to cover spill victims such as fishermen and hotel workers who lost wages, and to pay for the cleanup costs—a move some politicians dubbed a “shake down” by the White House. Others have portrayed it as a capitulation by an oil giant responsible for one of the worst environmental disasters in history. A more accurate picture falls somewhere between.

The fund is a big financial hit to BP. But behind the scenes, according to people on both sides of the negotiations, the company achieved victories that appear to have softened the blow.

What the WSJ article also confirms is that despite the bogus Fox News charge, nobody inside BP claims the company was ever the subject of a White House “shakedown.”

Nobody.