(Adds details from interview)
By Anna Irrera and Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Gary Cohn, the former economic adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, gave a ringing endorsement of Wall Street bankers on Monday, arguing that borrowers were just as responsible for the 2007-2009 financial crisis as lenders and ridiculing rules intended to make the system stronger in its aftermath.
In a wide-ranging conversation at an event hosted by Reuters Breakingviews that was pegged to the 10-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers' collapse, Cohn's comments mostly tracked the sentiment of Wall Street bankers and other wealthy Americans who have felt unfairly maligned for the mortgage market’s collapse and the economic downturn that ensued.
He also praised JPMorgan Chase & Co's Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, who last week made waves by saying that he could beat Trump in an election. Calling Dimon a "phenomenal" choice, Cohn said, "Jamie would be a spectacular president... After having seen the inside of the Oval Office and worked inside there for hours upon hours a day, it's in many respects very similar to running a complex multi-national global (company)."
Shortly after making his comments Dimon, said he was not running for president.
Once the No. 2 executive at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Cohn argued that no top bankers should have gone to jail for their role in the crisis because they did not necessarily do anything illegal, despite what populist movements like Occupy Wall Street have demanded.
Defending his fellow bankers, who are often blamed for causing and worsening the crisis, Cohn said borrowers played a hand in their financial disasters as well.
"Who broke the law? I just want to know who you think broke the law," said Cohn. "Was the waitress in Las Vegas who had six houses leveraged at 100 percent with no income, was she reckless and stupid? Or was the banker reckless and stupid?"
Cohn also mentioned former Lehman Chief Executive Dick Fuld who lost a big chunk of his net worth when his company filed for bankruptcy. "Who was Dick Fuld defrauding? Himself?"
In the aftermath of the crisis, Cohn said regulators and legislators went too far in creating restrictions that forced banks to grow in size because only the large could afford to pay for the added layers of oversight.
He criticized Elizabeth Warren, a prominent Democratic Senator who often attacks big banks, for using a simplistic measure of industry profitability and said rules that were part of the Dodd-Frank reform package have only solidified big banks’ competitive position.