Trump sues JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon over 'debanking' claim
President Trump has sued JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and its CEO Jamie Dimon for allegedly closing his accounts for political reasons following the US Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.
The complaint, filed in a state court in Miami-Dade County, Florida, is seeking about $5 billion in damages.
According to the lawsuit, which is from Trump and some of his businesses, JPMorgan closed his accounts in February 2021 because of "unsubstantiated, 'woke' beliefs'" that led the bank to "distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views."
"In essence, JPMC debanked Plaintiffs' Accounts because it believed the political tide at the moment favored doing so," the complaint said.
"In addition to the considerable financial and reputational harm that Plaintiffs and their affiliated entities suffered, JPMC's reckless decision is leading a growing trend by financial institutions in the United States of America to cut off consumer's access to banking services if their political views contradict with those of the financial institution."
This alleged "growing trend" by financial institutions in the US to refuse bank services to customers over politically motivated reasons is what led Trump to sign an executive order in August directing regulators to investigate whether any financial institutions were violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, antitrust laws or consumer financial-protection laws.
Any financial institutions that were found in violation would be subject to monetary penalties and potentially other disciplinary measures.
“While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit,” a JPMorgan spokeswoman said in a statement. “We respect the President’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves—that’s what courts are for.”
Trump has a surprising ally in debanking fight
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in August, Eric Trump said that the issues his father had with several banks after the Jan. 6 riot is what led the Trump family to delve deeper into the cryptocurrency space.
“At that time, I realized how fragile the financial system was and how easily it could be weaponized against you,” he said.
While the debanking claim has become a rallying cry for Trump and other conservatives in the US who argue that "woke" culture is causing financial institutions to cut services to customers they don't agree with politically, one of the most liberal members of Congress has actually become an ally.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said last year that her office had "identified thousands of examples of consumers losing access to their bank accounts" and called on the White House to take action.
“For me this is straightforward: it doesn’t matter who you voted for, what you believe in, or the origin of your last name, people shouldn’t be arbitrarily denied access to their banks, locked out of their accounts or stripped of their banking privileges,” Warren said at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee in February.
JPMorgan's spokeswoman said on Thursday that the bank will only close accounts if they "create legal or regulatory risk for the company."
"We regret having to do so but often rules and regulatory expectations lead us to do so." she said.
"We have been asking both this Administration and prior administrations to change the rules and regulations that put us in this position, and we support the Administration’s efforts to prevent the weaponization of the banking sector.”