JPMorgan Chase Moves to Dismiss Trump Debanking Lawsuit

JPMorgan Chase said in a Thursday (Feb. 19) court filing that it will seek a dismissal of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit that alleges the financial institution “debanked” him in 2021, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The bank also said in the filing that it seeks to have the case move from a Florida state court to a federal court in Miami and then to a court in New York, according to the report.

JPMorgan Chase argued in the filing that Trump improperly named the bank’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, as a defendant in order to file the case in the state court, per the report.

Reuters reported Thursday that many corporate defendants prefer to have cases heard in a federal court.

A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team told Bloomberg that JPMorgan Chase, “at the direction of CEO Jamie Dimon, unlawfully debanked and blacklisted President Trump, his family, and several of his businesses, causing overwhelming financial and reputational harm.”

Trump sued JPMorgan Chase and Dimon on Jan. 22, seeking $5 billion and alleging that the financial institution debanked him and others for political reasons in 2021.

The lawsuit alleges that JPMorgan Chase terminated the bank accounts of Trump and others at that time because of “political and social motivations,” causing the plaintiffs “considerable financial and reputational harm.”

It also alleges that the bank and Dimon “unlawfully and unjustifiably” published the names of Trump, The Trump Organization, the Trump family and others on a “blacklist” that can be accessed by other federally regulated banks.

“They do not explain what this ‘blacklist’ entails, when it was created, to whom it was supposedly circulated, or any other detail describing it,” JPMorgan’s lawyers said, per Bloomberg.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of “trade libel, violating Florida’s unfair and deceptive trade practices act, declaratory relief, and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.”

On the day Trump announced the suit, JPMorgan Chase released a statement in which it said it believes the suit has no merit.

“Our company does not close accounts for political or religious reasons,” the statement said. “We do close accounts because 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.”