Warren Asks Dimon About Epstein Ties and 2009 UK Bankers’ Tax Call

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter last week to JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon asking about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and any role in lobbying against a proposed UK tax on bankers’ bonuses. The Senate Banking Committee published the letter Monday.

The Financial Times first reported the outreach late Sunday. Forbes reported that Warren’s letter cites newly released Department of Justice files showing Epstein contacted former UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson in December 2009 to arrange a call from Dimon to then-Chancellor Alistair Darling. Dimon reportedly made the call on December 29, 2009.

Darling wrote in his memoir that Dimon “was very, very angry” and questioned whether JPMorgan would continue buying UK debt. Epstein and Mandelson also discussed limiting the tax to cash bonuses rather than share options. Forbes reported that a February 2010 email from Epstein assistant Lesley Groff, with the recipient name redacted in prior releases, invited Epstein to an evening meeting with Mandelson, Jes Staley and Dimon at Epstein’s New York mansion on 71st Street.

In a June 2009 email, Epstein asked Staley to organize a meeting with Dimon at the same address. Epstein maintained a client relationship with JPMorgan from 1998 to 2013. Forbes reported the bank earned $8 million in fees from Epstein in 2003, that Epstein and associates opened at least 134 accounts and processed over $1 billion in transactions.

JPMorgan later paid $75 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands to settle claims it failed to stop Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation. The bank did not admit liability. In a 2023 deposition, Dimon stated he had never met Epstein, never had an appointment with him and “had never even heard of the guy, pretty much” before 2019.