The legal team of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) argued that President Donald Trump‘s lawsuit wrongly includes CEO Jamie Dimon and requested a shift from the Florida state court to federal court.
The lawyers stated in a notice that Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, on which the lawsuit is based, does not apply to federally regulated bank executives acting in their official capacity.
They further stated that since JPMorgan is a legal citizen of Ohio and none of the plaintiffs are Ohio citizens, the case is eligible for federal court. They argued that Dimon was “fraudulently” named in the lawsuit to prevent it from being moved out of state court, contending that Florida’s DUTPA exempts federally regulated bank executives acting in their official capacity, implying the case belongs in federal court.
Trump’s allegations that JPMorgan dropped him as a client for political reasons were also refuted by the bank’s legal team. They argued that the plaintiffs’ allegations lack sufficient facts to establish their claim and fail to explain the supposed blacklist.
The White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
Alleged ‘Debanking’ Over Political Reasons
Trump filed a $5 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan and CEO Jamie Dimon in January, alleging that the bank “debanked” him and related entities for political reasons in early 2021. A lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County, Florida, alleges the bank closed Trump’s and his affiliates’ accounts after the January 6 Capitol riot for political reasons, ending a decades-long relationship rather than citing financial risk.
On several occasions, Trump’s younger son, Eric Trump, also the executive vice president of The Trump Organization, claimed they were abruptly excluded from the financial system as part of a broader campaign against the Trump family and conservatives. He also explained that this was a key factor in the Trump family’s public embrace of cryptocurrency.
Trump-Dimon Ties And Board of Peace
The ties between Dimon and Trump remain complicated. Despite the lawsuit against Dimon, JPMorgan is in talks to offer banking services, including payment facilitation, to the US-led “Board of Peace,” which Donald Trump aims to establish as a rival to the UN for rebuilding Gaza, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
The “Board of Peace” was first introduced in Davos in January and reconvened in Washington on Thursday.
In the past, Dimon has criticized several White House policies, including tariffs and the proposed 10% cap on credit card rates for a year, much to Trump’s displeasure. The CEO also refused to donate to the president’s $400 billion ballroom construction, citing caution.
However, Dimon has been supportive of the “America First” agenda and invested $1.5 trillion in October to support industries critical to U.S. national security, such as shipbuilding, nuclear energy, nanomaterials, and critical defense components. The bank also backed the new Trump Accounts initiative for American children.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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