Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co.
When JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon testifies before the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow, he’ll see some friendly faces on the dais.
Or least some appreciative ones.
Employees from JP Morgan have contributed generously to senators who just happen to sit on the committee, with a total of $81,335 of JPMorgan employee money going to South Dakota Senator and Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, since 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
And the House of Morgan bankers are also on the other side of the trade, or in this case, the other side of the aisle. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican member on the committee, has accepted $136,771 from employees since 1990.
In this election cycle, the biggest recipient is Virginia Senator Mark Warner, a democrat, who has received $79,150 in 2012, according to CRP, which tracks campaign finance and spending.
But not the entire panel has dipped into the JP Morgan well. On the Democratic side, Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkely haven’t taken any JP Morgan contributions in recent years. Republican senator Mike Johanns, of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania are in the same boat.
Dimon will have other advantages as well. The head of his DC lobbying shop, Naomi Gendler Camper, once ran Johnson’s subcommittee.
But the banking committee may also have some inside information on Dimon. The current staff director, Dwight Fettig, once lobbied for JP Morgan before returning to the Senate in 2010. And he may know JP Morgan’s strengths, as well as its weaknesses.
