JPMorgan and Bank of America “debanked” President Trump for his role in the January 6 Capitol Hill melee following pressure from the Biden administration’s banking regulators and the Federal Reserve, people with direct knowledge of the matter tell The Post.
The exact reason for Trump and his tens of millions of dollars in holdings being kicked off the JPMorgan banking platform, and then denied access to Bank of America’s services, has yet to be reported.
But sources at the banks — the largest and second-largest in the US in terms of assets — confirmed the case stemmed from the controversy surrounding Trump’s actions that day, and threats from President Joe Biden’s bank regulators that banking the former president’s money put them in danger of falling afoul of rules that prohibit financial institutions from doing business with individuals and companies that present a “reputational risk.”
People at the banks tell The Post that Biden’s banking cops at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve often used the nebulous nature of the edict to go beyond debanking money launderers and drug kingpins.
They were pressured to include people who have heterodox political and business ties that often included conservatives and anyone who participated in the January 6 protests.
Trump, of course, survived it all and is now in his second presidential term. He is vowing to end debanking; his regulators have stopped enforcing the reputational risk clause and he plans an executive order in the matter.
“Think back to what it was like being Trump back in 2021; he was a hot potato after January 6 and the regulators made it clear to us that we shouldn’t do business with him,” said one banking executive with direct knowledge of the matter.
An executive at JPMorgan said regulators “put the fear of God in you if you did business” with people like Trump.
That could mean increased surveillance and fines for various issues. Banks found it easier simply to avoid taking as customers people who presented this risk, even if they were like Trump and looking to open accounts with tens of millions of dollars in assets.
A Bank of America spokesman declined comment. JPMorgan said in a statement: “We don’t close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed. We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.”
A bank rep wouldn’t deny that the reputation risk edict was at the heart of its debanking of Trump.
Trump himself revealed that he was debanked Tuesday in an interview with the financial network CNBC. He said he was denied services at both institutions sometime after his first term ended in January 2021, just weeks after the storming of the Capitol that political opponents of Trump have described as a riot and insurrection.
First, he said, he was booted by JPMorgan.
“I had 100s of millions. I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash. I was loaded up with cash, and they told me, ‘I’m sorry, sir, we can’t have you. You have 20 days to get out.’ I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve been with you for 35, 40 years.’ ”
Then he was denied services by Bank of America. During the interview, he named both JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, stating both refused to come to his defense.
He said Moynihan “was kissing my ass when I was president, and when I called him after I was president to deposit a billion dollars plus and a lot of other things, more importantly to open accounts, which banks always like … And he said, ‘We can’t do it.’”
Trump and his regulators have sought to end the practice and he’s issuing an executive order imminently to end politically motivated debanking.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is pushing legislation that would outlaw the practices.
“It is unacceptable for banks to discriminate against customers or prospective customers based on political or religious beliefs. As Comptroller of the Currency, I intend to assess the size and scope of this problem and take appropriate action to depoliticize the federal banking system, and ensure banks provide fair access to financial services as required by law,” Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould told The Post.
Reps from the Fed and the FDIC declined to comment.
