Paul Curtman has been hosting “Defense of Liberty” dinner events for ten years. Curtman, a Marine Corps Veteran who was an infantry leader during Operation Enduring Freedom, is now a Missouri House of Representatives. Paul was a Missouri House of Representatives member from 2011 through 2019. He is currently a Financial Services Advisor and Radio Host (at NewsTalkSTL).
The Defense of Liberty PAC was formed in 2017 and, with Curtman and Missouri State Senator Bill Eigel as co-hosts, has continued to hold these events featuring various conservative/right-of-center local and state politicians, as well as high-profile guest speakers — most recently, in August of 2021, Candace Owens. That event was such a success — with over 1,200 attendees — the group decided to put on another event in December — this time featuring Donald Trump, Jr as the main attraction.
In October, tickets went on sale for the event. In order to process ticket payments, the PAC had partnered with WePay, a subsidiary of Chase Bank with whom they’d worked on previous events. Everything was fine until WePay called Curtman just two weeks later and asked for additional documentation. Curtman had provided all the required documentation and the relationship was abruptly terminated.
Curtman was notified by Curtman on Nov. 9 that the company had cancelled the contract and refunded $30,000 for tickets. Curtman stated that the company would no longer do business with Curtman in the future.
The message cited an entry placed under the general heading of “Illegal” in the WePay list of prohibited activities.
“It seems you’re using WePay Payments for one or more of the activities prohibited by our terms of service,” a copy of the message, forwarded to The Independent, states. “More specifically: Per our terms of service, we are unable to process for hate, violence, racial intolerance, terrorism, the financial exploitation of a crime, or items or activities that encourage, promote, facilitate, or instruct others regarding the same.”
That’s right. WePay claimed that an organisation whose last guest speaker was an African American woman (Owens), and whose next event would feature that same speaker, was WePay. Cecilia S. JohnsonPresident of the RNC’s National Director of Black Engagement, and his hosts directly participated in fighting terror was engaged in “hate, violence, racial intolerance, terrorism.” (Having attended several of these events, I can assure you this assertion is utter bunk.)
I held the first Defense of Liberty event 10 years ago & have since hosted guests of different skin color, nationality, religion etc. – but we all came together to promote our shared values of personal & economic freedom.
We can’t be cancelled. We won’t be stopped. @BillEigel— Paul Curtman (@paulcurtman) November 18, 2021
Curtman discussed this topic on local radio in the last week. Listen to his latest interviews on NewsTalkSTL, here and here. But the fight isn’t stopping there.
Yesterday, Scott Fitzpatrick, Missouri’s State Treasurer, wrote to Jamie Dimon (CEO of JP Morgan Chase) challenging his decision. In it, Fitzpatrick stated:
Over a decade ago the Defense of Liberty Speaker Series was established. It has hosted eight conservative speakers in public events including Candace Owens (U.S.). Senator Roy Blunt and Congressman Jason Smith are just a few of the many speakers. No incidents have occurred in that time period that could be considered prohibited by WePay. This series offers a forum for conservative thought leaders to exchange ideas. The Defense of Liberty organization is opposed to hate, violence, intolerance and terrorist. Its founder Paul Curtman served admirably as a Marine Corps officer and was deployed to the Middle East to assist Operation Enduring Freedom.
WePay is currently refusing to give any further information about the event or group being accused of wrongdoing or suspending services, despite the accusations.
Therefore, it is obvious that JP Morgan Chase (the largest US bank) has decided to discriminate against customers who are based on political ideologies. Your institution discriminates against an ideology that was supported in half the country, and by 60% of Missourians voting during the previous election.
Fitzpatrick went on to say:
While as a private business you are free to choose who you want to do business with, it will be the policy of the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office that the State of Missouri will not do business with JP Morgan Chase, or any other financial institution that discriminates against customers based on mainstream political ideology so long as that discrimination continues.
Fitzpatrick was a guest on Tucker Carlson’s show last night and elaborated:
Joined as Treasurer Fitzpatrick @TuckerCarlsonDiscussion last night @WePayA subsidiary of @jpmorganThe Treasurer suspended services to a Missouri conservative group. WATCH to see how the Treasurer took action⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/JQyFTJ1Hun
— Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick (@MOTreasurer) November 18, 2021
WePay made an apparent 180-degree turn.
A spokesperson from JPMorgan Chase stated in an email on Wednesday evening that the cancellation was due to bad weather.
“After further review, we determined that this organization didn’t violate the terms of service, and we are reaching out to the client to discuss reinstating the account,” the statement read. “To be clear, we have never and would never close an account due to a client’s political affiliation.”
Oh.
As Curtman pointed out in his interview with Mike Ferguson this morning, it’s too late now — the damage is done. The organization and event lost two-and-a-half weeks’ worth of sales, not to mention the smearing of the organization and event with heinous accusations. This has caused the event to be delayed (hopefully rescheduled within the next few months). Curtman also noted this isn’t just an inconvenience — this has a direct impact on the venue and vendors who were set to host and cater the event.
Missouri’s Treasurer isn’t the only official who’s taken notice of the issue and called for answers. Today, Attorney General Eric Schmitt wrote his own letter addressed to Dimon:
This Cancel Culture delusion must stop.
JP Morgan Chase targeted Missouri’s conservative political event. It was cancelled by the sponsors. That’s unacceptable.
Let me know if you are interested in my letter @jpmorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. 👇 pic.twitter.com/TgC57hDFMl
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) November 18, 2021
Schmitt claims Missourians owe an explanation.
If JPMorgan Chase’s statement last night is true that it has ‘never and would never close an account due to a client’s political affiliation,’ then what was the reason for the cancellation? What steps did JPMorgan Chase take to correct this error and prevent discrimination against conservative events?
Indeed, as Curtman has noted, even if it is not Chase’s policy to do open/maintain customer accounts based on their political affiliation, SomeoneWith some authority within the company, they felt empowered enough to call this off. It seems like they made terrible public relations.
When the Defense of Liberty dinner is held — and it will be (albeit, not in December as originally planned), something tells me it will be quite well-attended. Another payment processor company can reap the rewards of doing business alongside liberty-minded Missourians.
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