June 19, 2012

JPMorgan Is Spencer Bachus’s 2nd-Highest Donor As He Fails To Put Jamie Dimon Under Oath

JPMorgan Is Spencer Bachus's 2nd-Highest Donor As He Fails To Put Jamie Dimon Under Oath
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL)

Today, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is testifying before the House Financial Services Committee about his megabank’s stunning $2 billion loss. As during his testimony before the Senate last week, Dimon is being shown enormous deference by members of Congress, many of whom receive campaign contributions from Dimon’s bank. Take, for example the committee’s chairman, Spencer Bachus (R-AL). Bachus failed to put Dimon under oath during the hearing. While this isn’t an unusual practice for a congressional hearing, it is appropriate to require sworn testimony when a committee is pursuing factual questions and allegations of misconduct, as is the case today.  JPMorgan Chase is Bachus’s second-highest career donor. The congressman has received $119,000 from the bank during his tenure in congress, mostly from its political action committee.