Financial Firms Brake Political Contributions After Capitol Riot

The nation’s largest financial firms as well as a major health insurance system are halting political donations after an attempt to disrupt the certification of the election resulted in a riot that killed five people.

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were among the first major financial firms to say they are suspending political contributions after followers of President Donald Trump attempted a coup at the U.S. Capitol last week, CNBC and The Wall Street Journal reported.

JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, is pausing political action committee contributions for Republicans and Democrats for “at least” the next six months, spokesman Steve O’Halloran said. During that time, the bank will consider changes to its political donation strategies.

Blue Cross Blue Shield said it would stop giving campaign contributions to Republican lawmakers who backed efforts to disrupt the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Morgan Stanley said it will not make contributions to members of Congress who opposed the Electoral College certification of Biden, CNBC reported. The financial firm will continue making contributions to other lawmakers.

Goldman Sachs said it paused all its political action committee donations last week following the riot at the Capitol. A Goldman Sachs spokesman told CNBC the pause is likely to extend for six months.

Citigroup told its employees in a memo that it would pause all political contributions for the first quarter of the year, according to CNBC.

Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin said that the “appalling violent assault on the U.S. Capitol” will factor into donation decisions for the 2022 midterm elections.

Wells Fargo is “reviewing its go-forward Political Action Committee strategy in light of the terrible and tragic events of last week,” Jennifer Dunn, a spokeswoman for the bank, said in a statement.