JPMorgan Chase closes account of religious freedom group, demands donor list: report

JPMorgan Chase has reportedly closed the account of a religious freedom-focused non-profit group and demanded it hand over a list of its donors to secure the account's reinstatement.

Former Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, the founder of the National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF), told Fox News that the group's account was closed with no explanation.

"We went into a Chase branch in the District of Columbia to open an account, no problem," he said, per the outlet. "Then, several weeks later, I went to put another deposit in the account, and they said, 'Your account has been canceled, we'll be sending your money back to you.'"

A spokesperson for the bank said the bank did not close the account on the basis of the group's political and social leanings.

"Of course, I'm not able to speak about confidential client matters. But what I can say is we have never and would never exit a client relationship due to their political or religious affiliation," the spokesperson told the outlet.

Brownback, however, alleged that other groups had suffered similar treatment. "We've just heard of way too many groups and entities, particularly religious-associated ones, that have been canceled by their providers... And we want to start seeing some of these cases investigated." His organization plans to appeal to state attorneys general to get involved," he said.

The former lawmaker has requested that CEO Jamie Dimon explain the closure and address concerns that the firm may be closing accounts on the basis of faith or politics. "We are concerned that religious institutions, houses of worship, and people of all faiths are at risk of having their business, credit, or even personal or private bank accounts terminated for any or no reason at all," he wrote, per the outlet.