Despite the Chase Bank reversal, Donald Trump Jr.’s event remains canceled. in st. Charles • Missouri Independent

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A conservative group in Missouri can’t go ahead with an event featuring Donald Trump Jr. despite a reversal from the nation’s largest bank saying it would broker tickets for the speech, organizers said Thursday.

There is too little time left for the event at the Liberty PAC Defense on Dec. 3 in St. Louis to be successful. Charles, said the group’s founder, former Rep. Paul Curtman of the state. The group sold $ 30,000 worth of event tickets through WePay, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, before the company canceled the contract in Nov. 9.

The company reversed the decision on Wednesday, hours after The Independent reported that the event had been canceled, but Curtman said the damage had already been done.

A company representative called Wednesday night to convey the change and apologize, Curtman said. When he asked to write the apology, he said, he only received the statement sent to The Independent.

“I told WePay that if they want to turn it back on, I’m definitely open there,” Curtman said. “However, at this point, for this event, we’re going to move on to someone else.”

The Defense of Liberty PAC is looking for a date in February when scheduled speakers will be available.

“We’re going to take a few days for reorganization and re-scheduling,” he said.

Chase faces other repercussions from the controversy.

State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick on Thursday released a statement that the return came after he wrote a letter to Chase CEO Jamie Dimon that the state would not do business with the bank “or any other financial institution that discriminates against to customers based on core political ideology so long as that discrimination persists. “

Chase currently does not hold any state deposits, Fitzpatrick wrote in a text message to The Independent.

“I think Chase has the right to do whatever they want in terms of who they do business with,” Fitzpatrick said Wednesday on Fox News ’Tucker Carlson Tonight program. “But with whom we, as the state of Missouri, will do business, we will not do business with any bank in the state treasurer’s office that chooses to discriminate against half the population, the conservative half. of the population. “

And US Sen. sent a letter. Josh Hawley on Thursday asked Dimon to ask for “full accounting” of how the decision was made and why the Defense of Liberty PAC linked hatred, violence, racism or terrorism.

“If your goal is to use the power of your company to stealth — cancel a conservative event, then you have succeeded — at the expense of the people of Missouri,” Hawley wrote.

When it canceled the contract, WePay sent a message to Curtman saying he was violating the company’s terms of service because it promotes “hate, violence, racial intolerance, terrorism, financial exploitation of a crime, or things or activity that encourages, promotes, facilitates, or educates others about it. ”

On Wednesday night, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase wrote in an email that the decision was a mistake.

“After further review, we have determined that this organization has not violated the terms of service, and we are in contact with the client to discuss account return,” the statement sent to The Independent read. “To be clear, we never and will never close an account because of a client’s political affiliation.”

Curtman said he was offended by the cited reason for the cancellation of the contract. They are planning a “vanilla-type political event” with speakers capable of drawing the audience, he said. The group is planning for up to 3,000 attendees.

“It was a very safe event,” Curtman said. “There’s nothing out of the norm to tell anyone, I don’t want to go there.”

The Defense of Independence events began as a vehicle for Curtman’s advocacy while he was in elective office. He made it a formal political action committee in July and worked with Sen. Bill Eigel and former Sen. Jim Lembke to promote it.

The damage is done and we will not be able to complete the event on December 3 due to missing ticket sale days. Too late from @jpmorgan. We will not let #cancelculture and @DonaldJTrumpJr silence us — this fight is just beginning. #moleg https://t.co/ZyUwcWyhWQ

– William Eigel (@BillEigel) November 18, 2021

“The damage is done and we will not be able to complete the event on Dec. 3 due to missing ticket sale days,” Eigel wrote on Twitter. “Too little too late from (JPMorgan Chase).”

A lot of preparation is needed to move on to Dec. 3 and make it a successful fundraiser, Lembke said.

“The truth of the matter is it’s too late,” Lembke said Thursday. “We’ve had costs in this matter that hopefully we’ll come back to.”

The event is expected to cost approximately $ 115,000, including venue rental, speaker fees, catering and other costs, Curtman said.

One problem created by WePay’s position transfer is how money already received for tickets is handled, Curtman said. Some buyers received a refund directly from WePay, but money from those not yet was transferred to the Defense of Liberty PAC account.

WePay deducted its commission from the transfer, Curtman said.

Now, if people want refunds and he has to do them directly, he doesn’t have all the money they paid. WePay also adds a transaction fee paid by the buyer.

“They paid a processing fee that I couldn’t refund,” Curtman said. “I have to ask them, do they want a refund, or just a reserved seat for the next event? If they want all the refunds, it will probably require more money than I can use. “

This story has been updated since it was first published.

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