Cramer: Bank Lawsuits Aren't Going Away Soon

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Jim, JP Morgan is now being sued by the New York attorney general for $20 billion going back to financial instruments from 2006. I don't get this, because I feel that on the one hand we wanted to save the banks, and Jamie Dimon was forced to buy Bear Stearns, and on the other hand, this attorney general has decided that now he's going to go after him.

Jim Cramer:
Look, they're political figures. People who they run for office and banks poll very well. Jamie Dimon, as you correctly point out, that was something the government begged him to do. He obviously hadn't vetted any of these things. There was no time to vet this stuff and its fatuous lawsuit, but fatuous lawsuits need to be settled and I guess Jamie Dimon is going to have to send another $100 million to $500 million of shareholders money over there. You can fight it, but the government plays for free. JP Morgan plays with Paul Weiss and is going to cost a fortune. It's just unfortunate that these remain the whipping boys, but they're hated. They've done many things wrong. There are a lot of people who just think they should be punished whether they deserve it on the merits or not and that is the political system we are in. I obviously don't agree with it, but I recognize that the government never prosecuted anyone with successfully. Remember the eastern district in New York went after two Bear Stearns guys and they got off. Debra Borchardt: Matt Tannin and Ralph Cioffi.

Jim Cramer:
That wrecked everything. There never was any justice department taskforce when it mattered and they were not able to pursue AIG, and the people are very angry. No one went to jail. And yet the country has not been able to recover from what they have done. Unemployment was at 8% after they destroyed it and unemployment is at 8% and I think that is just in the actual part of the political system. You just have to accept the fact that these lawsuits are going to be with us for some time. They had to get in before the statute of limitations, I guess.

Debra Borchardt:
It just seems though that he is striking at one his biggest employers in the state and here is the one bank that hired people this year as opposed to firing them and laying them off like Bank of America. He is going after one of his biggest employers in the state. It just seems to boggle the mind. Why would you...

Jim Cramer:
I have found myself at various times trying to defend myself with lawyers. And what they would say, Debra, to that very well reasonable argument is, "Not responsive, Cramer. It is not responsive." That's the term they use. It's not responsive. Meaning that it doesn't address what the government is addressing and prosecutors are very powerful.

Debra Borchardt:
Okay, but let me ask you this. So I'll play devil's advocate.

Jim Cramer:
....they have their own discretion.

Debra Borchardt:
Betty Bungolow didn't go out and buy these CMOs. These were sophisticated investors buying these products, and more than likely they have made money on them, and more than likely there maybe some of things sitting over at the Maiden Lane portfolio down the street of the Federal Reserve.

Jim Cramer:
I think it's a good defense. I think if they get to a jury that is going to have some weight, but in the end find me a jury that likes bankers.

Debra Borchardt:
All right. So it is just a shakedown.

Jim Cramer:
Well, look, a shakedown implies that, I think it is criminal. I just think it is a decent case to bring. Gives the people hope that maybe someone pays for it.

Debra Borchardt:
All right.

Jim Cramer:
Just that it is the shareholders that pay. That is the most unfortunate. Particularly as a shareholder in my charitable trust of JP Morgan, so I have been critical of Jamie Dimon at times, but I am in his camp on this.

Debra Borchardt:
You don't think he deserves it?

Jim Cramer:
No, no. I mean, I was up at Tuft's this weekend, which is his old stomping grounds. I was thinking, look I've been hard on the guy, but he is better than the rest of them.

Debra Borchardt:
That is true.

Jim Cramer:
The Wells Fargo guys. I like them. US Bancorp.

Debra Borchardt:
Alright, so he did not deserve this one.

Jim Cramer:
No. This one he did not deserve.

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