DOJ, CFTC Investigate George Santos Over $10,000s in Bets on SOTU Absence
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Jun 3
DOJ, CFTC Investigate George Santos Over $10,000s in Bets on SOTU Absence
3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Jun 3
Federal investigators are examining whether George Santos profited by wagering on Kalshi that he would skip February's State of the Union after publicly saying he would attend.
Tens of thousands of dollars are at issue, according to NPR, with the Justice Department and Commodity Futures Trading Commission probing whether the trades amounted to insider misconduct.
Kalshi had flagged the trading and referred the matter to law enforcement, putting prediction-market surveillance at the center of the case.
The probe adds to scrutiny of event-based betting platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, where traders can potentially profit from nonpublic knowledge of real-world outcomes.
Is insider trading on prediction markets an unstoppable new crime born from modern technology?
When individuals can bet on their own actions, how can regulators possibly prevent market manipulation?
George Santos, Insider Trading, and the $3 Billion Prediction Market Scandal: How Kalshi’s Case Is Reshaping U.S. Regulation
Overview
Former New York Representative George Santos is under federal investigation for alleged insider trading on the prediction market platform Kalshi, accused of profiting from bets against his own attendance at President Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address. Despite denying the claims and giving unclear answers about his involvement with Kalshi, this case adds to Santos’s troubled history, including his 2023 expulsion from Congress and a 2024 guilty plea for fraud and identity theft. After serving part of an 87-month prison sentence, which was later commuted by President Trump, Santos now faces renewed legal scrutiny, highlighting ongoing concerns about ethics and regulation in prediction markets.