USA Today Gives JP Morgan Free Pass

Last week, I saw an interview in USA Today with JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon. Maria Bartiromo of CNBC was the reporter; so, I am not surprised to see a very soft-ball story.

I don’t know what you would call this kind of reporting, but it’s not journalism. To me, it’s a PR piece for Dimon and JP Morgan.

USA Today gave a sloppy wet kiss and a free pass to Dimon to say whatever makes the bank look good.

When asked about how his industry was “demonized,” Dimon said, “What I would hope for: that there is no so-called pressure in the industry. That we had rational collaboration about how to build a great country with great rules and regulations that allow business to thrive. If business doesn’t thrive, it hurts America.” (Click here for the complete PR interview from USA Today.)

In other words, if we don’t thrive, you don’t thrive. So, don’t even think about punishing us.

“Rules and regulations that allow business to thrive”? There sure don’t seem to be any rules or regulations to punish big banks for the crime and rip-offs that they have committed against the public, and you won’t hear it brought up by any of the mainstream media (MSM) either.

Why didn’t Ms. Bartiromo ask about Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and the case she filed 7 weeks ago that alleges foreclosure fraud against Dimon’s bank? The lawsuit is alleging JP Morgan Chase and 4 other big banks “. . . improperly foreclosed on troubled borrowers by relying on fraudulent legal documentation . . .” (Click here for more on the Mass. AG’s case.)

This is a case that has major nationwide implications. How could Bartiromo just leave this out of her questions? This is just one of several cases that have been filed against the big banks over the past few years. Leaving this completely out of the question list is why I say this is a PR job and not journalism.

The latest stain on the bank alleges “JPMorgan Chase routinely fabricated documents to deceive bankruptcy judges. . .” This is a charge in a current case on the other side of the country in California. Doesn’t this sound a lot like the charges leveled in the Massachusetts AG’s lawsuit on the East Coast? There was not a question on this case either.

Last week, “Courthouse News Service” reported allegations JP Morgan bank was “going so far as to Photoshop documents to “create the illusion” of standing “in tens of thousands of bankruptcy cases,” according to a federal class action. Lead plaintiff Ernest Michael Bakenie claims that Chase’s “pattern and practice of playing ‘hide-and-seek’ with debtors, judges and other bankruptcy players” bore rich fruit: that Chase secured motions for relief of stay and proofs of claim in 95 percent of its cases.” (Click here to read the complete Courthouse News report.)

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