Former Congressman facing federal investigation over claims of manipulated trades on prediction market platform Kalshi
George Santos, the former New York Congressman who served time on federal fraud charges before receiving a presidential commutation, is now the subject of a fresh federal investigation.
This time, authorities are investigating whether he manipulated trades on the prediction market platform Kalshi.
The scrutiny centers on a market tied to whether Santos would personally attend President Trump’s State of the Union address in February earlier this year.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Santos had placed bets suggesting he would not appear at the event, while simultaneously telling his social media followers the opposite.
He ultimately skipped the speech. The discrepancy between his public statements and his wager positions raised red flags for Kalshi’s internal monitoring systems.
After identifying the suspicious activity, Kalshi froze Santos’ account and forwarded the case to both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), each of which opened separate investigations.
Santos has reportedly ignored multiple requests from Kalshi to sit down for an interview as part of its internal review.
When contacted about the probe by NPR, Santos claimed ignorance of any investigation and was evasive when asked whether he even held a Kalshi account.
He also claimed a personal connection to one of the platform’s co-founders, an assertion that sources close to the investigation disputed.
The Santos case arrives at a time when prediction markets face growing regulatory pressure across Washington. In recent months, a US Army Special Forces soldier and a Google employee were both charged federally for allegedly using non-public information to profit on similar platforms.