Chase CEO, Who Gave the Racist SPLC $500,000, Denies Debanking Conservatives
Chicago, IL/Washington, D.C. – Presenting a copy of George Orwell's 1984 to the head of America's largest bank, a shareholder activist today asked JPMorgan Chase & Co. to not "debank" conservatives because of their political beliefs. Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon flatly denied that any debanking has occurred at Chase Bank under his watch, but refrained from pledging that it would not happen in the future.
"We gave Dimon a chance to definitively say that JPMorgan Chase has not debanked conservatives and will not wield its power against conservatives in the future, but he really only gave us half," said National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President David W. Almasi, who confronted Dimon on behalf of the National Center's Free Enterprise Project (FEP) during the company's annual meeting of shareholders. "If Jamie Dimon can't absolutely guarantee that Chase Bank won't ever discriminate against conservatives, conservatives should consider banking elsewhere."
Almasi brought a copy of George Orwell's 1984 to the meeting and gave it to a JPMorgan Chase employee to give to Dimon. He did so to make a point that the current debanking and deplatforming of conservatives by American businesses is similar to how political enemies were stripped of their identities in Orwell's seminal novel.
During the question and answer session at today's JPMorgan Chase shareholder meeting in Chicago, Almasi said:
I'd like you to address allegations that Chase Bank has recently "debanked" several people affiliated with the conservative movement. I'm not here to defend anything they have said or done, and I don't personally know any of the people I'm going to mention. Frankly, as someone who works in the conservative movement, I'm asking for a personal reason: Am I next?...
Conservative activists Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs, Laura Loomer and Martina Markota all found accounts they had with Chase Bank cancelled in the space of just a few weeks this past January and February. They say they don't know why.
In Mr. Tarrio's case, he says he was a 10-year Chase customer. He says the online shop he runs went through a three-month Chase certification process long before the account was suddenly closed. Video of Mr. Tarrio appealing his case to Chase employees is available on the website of Project Veritas. In the video, several Chase managers say they can't explain the irrevocable closure of Mr. Tarrio's account. One business manager calls it "mind-boggling."…
…I'm asking you to clear the air.
He then asked Dimon:
I know you cannot speak about personal banking matters, but can YOU - as chairman and CEO, on the record and before your investors - pledge that JPMorgan Chase and Co. is not debanking people and will not debank them because of their politics? Or, if you are, will you pledge to end this practice so conservatives like me don't have to worry about becoming "unpersons" like in the book 1984?
Almasi's full statement, as prepared for delivery, is available here. Video of the exchange between Almasi and Dimon is available at this link.
Dimon replied: "Very directly, we have not and do not debank people because of their political views. We have not and do not. And we debank people 'cause they're DSA, AML, KYC or unable to meet regulation - regulatory-type of requirements for them."
During his comments, Almasi noted how the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has worked with other companies to debank conservatives, and how when FEP questioned Dimon last year about the company's $500,000 donation to the SPLC, Dimon refused to address the company's relationship with the SPLC. Again today, Dimon refrained from addressing the SPLC affiliation after Almasi brought it up.
"It's chilling that conservatives are at risk of losing financial standing because of their beliefs," said Almasi. "I brought Dimon a copy of 1984 so he and the JPMorgan Chase leadership could brush up on the specter of Big Brother and making someone an 'unperson.' Dimon denied the charges currently leveled against Chase Bank, but I think he could have said a lot more to convince conservatives they are safe from the growing discrimination by businesses that take cues from leftist special interests like the SPLC."
Today's JPMorgan Chase and Co. meeting marks the 20th time FEP has participated in a shareholder meeting in 2019.
To schedule an interview, contact Jenny Kefauver at (703) 850-3533.
Launched in 2007, the National Center's Free Enterprise Project focuses on shareholder activism and the confluence of big government and big business. Over the past four years alone, FEP representatives have participated in over 100 shareholder meetings – advancing free-market ideals about health care, energy, taxes, subsidies, regulations, religious freedom, food policies, media bias, gun rights, workers' rights and other important public policy issues. As the leading voice for conservative-minded investors, FEP annually files more than 90 percent of all right-of-center shareholder resolutions. Dozens of liberal organizations, however, annually file more than 95 percent of all policy-oriented shareholder resolutions and continue to exert undue influence over corporate America.
FEP activity has been covered by media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Variety, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Drudge Report, Business Insider, National Public Radio and SiriusXM. FEP's work was prominently featured in Wall Street Journal writer Kimberley Strassel's 2016 book The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Silencing Free Speech (Hachette Book Group).
Earlier this year, Investor's Business Daily published an op-ed by Danhof regarding the capitulation of Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet to liberal diversity pushers. It is available here.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 60,000 active recent contributors. Contributions are tax-deductible and may be earmarked for the Free Enterprise Project. Sign up for email updates here.
Follow us on Twitter at @NationalCenter for general announcements. To be alerted to upcoming media appearances by National Center staff, follow our media appearances Twitter account at @NCPPRMedia.
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6 comments:
Correction:Pfleger was commenting about POST-speech reaction to Farrakhan's being allowed to speak.
--GRA
Reminder to the curious:The remake of "All in the Family",is on tonight on ABC,with Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker and Marisa Tomei as Edith.A less interesting remake follows--"The Jeffersons."
--GRA
Greek guy. Where did he get that name of Jaimie Damon from??
ALL IN THE FAMILY REVIEW
96 year old liberal legend,Norman Lear,brought back his classic show,"All in the Family" as a live broadcast,on ABC tonight.
It opened with Woody Harrelson (Archie)and Edith (Marisa Tomei)Bunker singing,"Those Were The Days"--live--and impressively.
After a commercial,the episode they decided to use was from 1973,where Henry Jefferson(Anthony Anderson)was moving from the Jefferson house and receiving a "going away party".The Bunkers and Stivics are invited,but near the beginning,Louise Jefferson(Wanda Sykes)tells Edith,that George(Jamie Foxx)didn't want whites in his house.So Edith volunteers 704 Howser St and the rest is sitcom history.
Mike and Archie spar,Edith and Archie argue,Henry and Archie argue and finally George makes an appearance-complete with over the top physical gyrations that causes Archie to ask,"You got ants in your pants,Jefferson?
It was advertised as a word for word replay of the original show,but there seemed to be a few new lines as well.
The crowd ooohed and aaahed when Archie called the Jefferson's "coloreds" and especially the always true statement,"You can take the coloreds out of the jungle,but you can't take the jungle out of the coloreds."
The weakest performer was Woody,because watching him as Archie,reminded me of how great Carroll O'Connor was in that role.He WAS Archie Bunker.Much of Archie's hilarity came from his hilarious facial expressions.Woody has none of that--it's just the way it is.But he didn't screw up his lines like Foxx did,and he kind of grew on me a little as the show went on.Harrelson seemed to enjoy the role.
Tomei was an excellent Edith.Ike Berinholtz re-created Mike as if it were Rob Reiner playing him.Ellen Kemper was Gloria without the cuteness.
I'm not sure if Lear is going to try for an updated version of "AITF"--I would lean against it personally(supposedly that's not being planned at this time).Lear had some tremendous writers in the early 70s--I assume he's outlived them all.
This was a fine tribute to the old show--btw,I did not watch "The Jeffersons".
--GR Anonymous
Difficult to find,but here's the Pfleger story,I posted earlier:
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A defiant Father Michael Pfleger is criticizing the news media and others he says are trying to define his life, following his controversial decision to invite Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan to speak at Saint Sabina.
Pfleger welcomed Farrakhan to his own church in a show of support after media giant Facebook banned the Nation of Islam figurehead for what it calls hate speech. Critics say Farrakhan fosters anti-Semitic viewpoints, but Pfleger said Facebook shouldn't censor anyone.
(GRA:I agree,maybe he should invite N.S. or Alex Jones to speak at his church.)
Fallout for Pfleger included a strongly worded statement from Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. Pfleger also said he got a call from someone identifying himself as a rabbi.
The caller, according to Pfleger, said: “We are not going to stop until we destroy you.”
“Interesting,” Pfleger said Wednesday. “But I want to make very clear: They got the wrong white boy.”
(GRA:Does he REALLY think he's white?I wonder...he never seems to support white people at all--just blacks).
Pfleger said he is accepting an invitation to visit the Illinois Holocaust Museum, but said he is countering with offer for museum staff to come to the DuSable Museum of African American History, "so we understand that one's pain does not negate another's pain."
The activist priest, who leads an African-American parish in Auburn Gresham, turned 70 on Wednesday.
--GR Anonymous
jerry pdx
I forgot to watch the All in the Family remake but thanks for the synopsis. I can only imagine what a reboot would be like, the original at least had the Vietnam war, a civil rights era still working out some hinks & Nixon & Watergate to play off of but nowadays what are the burning the media shoves in our faces? Immigration? (i.e. letting the 3rd world invade the US)? BLM? Fake hate crimes? Trump derangement syndrome? Gender issues? I can see the new show touting all those issues and trying to be "funny" about it. It will fail miserably because all those issues through PC lenses are ultimately misrepresented. The original addressed similar issues also and it was the infancy of political correctness but it was funny because there was still enough validity behind the issues to make it credible. That is no longer true so the writers will have to fabricate victimization. It will be a disaster.
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