Gasp! Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos is under federal investigation for insider trading on the prediction market Kalshi.
Back in 2023, Santos was expelled from Congress in disgrace for fabricating his entire political identity via a sprawling web of bizarre lies. Following his congressional expulsion, he was sentenced to roughly seven years in prison for identity theft and wire fraud. But thanks to an October 2025 pardon from President Donald Trump, Santos only served about three months of his sentence.
Not even a year since receiving his pardon, however, Santos appears to be in hot legal water once again over his conduct on the controversial betting platform Kalshi. As NPR reports, Kalshi employees caught Santos betting that he’d be a no-show at February’s State of the Union address — while actively tweeting to the masses about how he was definitely planning to be there.
Kalshi referred Santos’ behavior to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice, both of which are now investigating the former lawmaker, according to NPR.
“I’m going to be there for the State of the Union,” Santos declared in a video published to X-formerly-Twitter in the lead-up to the event. By the time the video was published, the Poconos-dwelling former congressman had already bet against himself being there, per NPR.
When he failed to eventually show up at the presidential address, Santos took to X once again to blame his absence on a delayed flight.
Neither the CFTC nor the Justice Department have publicly confirmed the existence of the investigations. In response to NPR, though, Santos appeared furious.
When first reached with questions, Santos told NPR that any insider trading investigation was “news to me,” and declined to say whether he had a Kalshi account. After NPR’s initial report was published, Santos repeatedly called NPR reporter Bobby Allyn, insisting that the report was incorrect and telling him that “this story is going to get you a gun in your face.”
When Allyn then asked Santos what he meant, the former lawmaker responded: “You know what I mean.”
In the wake of NPR’s reporting, Kalshi rival Polymarket cut ties with Santos, who was one of many paid influencers for the platform. Maybe — just maybe — Santos should consider steering clear of platforms as ripe for fraud as prediction markets, given his track record.
More on prediction markets: Sports Betting Scandals Are Tearing College Football Apart
The post You Will Be Shocked to Hear That George Santos Is Under Investigation for Insider Trading on Kalshi appeared first on Futurism.
