Conservative PAC Cancels Event With Trump Jr. After JPMorgan Chase Subsidiary Cuts Ties With Group, Then Backpedals

A Missouri-based conservative political action committee has canceled a fundraiser featuring Donald Trump Jr. after a payment processor owned by the nation’s largest bank reportedly canceled its contract with the group, refunded $30,000 in ticket sales, then said it had made a mistake and reversed its decision.

The Defense of Liberty PAC event was scheduled for December 3 in St. Charles, a suburb of St. Louis. The organization was expecting approximately 3,000 people to attend. An organizer said tickets ranged from $70 to $250 and included a $500 per person pre-event with Trump Jr.

According to the Missouri Independent, WePay, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase, told the PAC last week that it was cutting ties and would not do business with the group in the future, citing a terms of service violation.

A copy of a message sent to the PAC that was forwarded to The Independent reportedly said, in part, “Per our terms of service, we are unable to process for hate, violence, racial intolerance, terrorism, the financial exploitation of a crime, or item or activities that encourage, promote, facilitate, or instruct others regarding the same.”

The outlet reported, “On Wednesday night, after The Independent reported that the event was canceled and the reason, a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase wrote in an email that the decision had been a mistake.”

“After further review, we determined that this organization didn’t violate terms of service, and we are reaching out to the client to discuss reinstating the account,” the statement said. “To be clear, we have never and would never close an account due to a client’s political affiliation.”

Former state Rep. Paul Curtman, a Republican who founded the PAC, told The Independent that even though WePay reversed course, the disruption would still result in the event being canceled and rescheduled. Organizers are considering dates in February.

The group’s website says the gathering is “being rescheduled due to leftist attempts to cancel us.”

State Sen. Bill Eigel, a Republican who is also involved with the Defense of Liberty PAC, tweeted on Thursday: “The damage is done and we will be unable to complete the event on 3 December due to the loss of ticket selling days. Too little too late from @jpmorgan. We will not let the #cancelculture silence us and @DonaldJTrumpJr – this fight is just beginning.”

The damage is done and we will be unable to complete the event on 3 December due to the loss of ticket