JPMorgan Chase Admits To Trump’s Accounts Being Closed After Jan. 6 Attack

The public statement is a first.

For the first time publicly, JPMorgan Chase has admitted to closing President Donald Trump’s bank accounts following the Jan 6. attacks—and the president knew about it, the Associated Press reports.

The admission came amid a court filing submitted in Trump’s $5 billion lawsuit accusing the bank of disrupting his business operations and of having political motives. JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, said the president knew it was happening.

“In February 2021, JPMorgan informed Plaintiffs that certain accounts maintained with JPMorgan’s CB and PB would be closed,” former chief administrative officer Dan Wilkening wrote in the court filing, with “PB” and “CB” standing for JPMorgan’s private bank and commercial bank.

The public statement is a first. The bank has only pushed back hypothetically on the narrative surrounding reasons behind account closures, citing bank privacy laws.

Trump’s long-stemmed battle started in a Florida state court after he originally accused the bank of trade libel and violating state and federal unfair trade practices. Trump first tried to raise a personal issue with Dimon after JPMorgan notified him that it would close his accounts. In the original suit, Trump alleged Dimon told him he would figure out what was happening, but failed to follow up with the president.

While JPMorgan said the lawsuit had “no merit” at the time, Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, said the admission just proves his client’s sentiments.

“In a devastating concession that proves President Trump’s entire claim, JPMorgan Chase admitted to unlawfully and intentionally de-banking President Trump, his family, and his businesses, causing overwhelming financial harm,” Brito and other attorneys said in a statement, according to The Hill.

“President Trump is standing up for all those wrongly de-banked by JPMorgan Chase and its cohorts, and will see this case to a just and proper conclusion.”

The president and Republican lawmakers have collectively accused major financial institutions of de-banking, when banks close customer accounts or refuse services, calling it “reputational risk.”

Capital One was added to the list of sued banks by the Trump Organization after more than 300 of its accounts were closed following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

De-banking first came under the national spotlight when conservatives accused the Obama administration of putting pressure on banks to stop servicing gun stores and payday lenders under “Operation Choke Point.”