Former Rep. George Santos is disputing allegations that he improperly benefited from prediction-market buying and selling as federal authorities reportedly look at exercise related to his account on Kalshi.
In a June 3 submit on X, Santos mentioned he discovered by means of media stories that the Division of Justice could possibly be wanting into the matter. He mentioned his attorneys had already contacted federal officers for clarification and that he would cooperate with any requests for info.
“The bases of the accusation is preposterous and I stay up for supplying any info requested of me to any company that inquires,” Santos wrote.
Studies from NPR, the Associated Press and different shops say investigators are reviewing trades tied to a market on whether or not Santos would attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union deal with. Kalshi reportedly detected suspicious exercise, froze the account in query and referred the matter to the DOJ and the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee.
The most recent controversy comes months after Santos obtained government clemency relating to a fraud case from President Donald Trump. A Justice Division clemency document dated October 17, 2025, reveals Trump commuted Santos’ sentence in United States v. Devolder Santos, ordering that or not it’s lowered to time served with “no additional fines, restitution, probation, supervised launch, or different circumstances.”
The grant utilized particularly to the federal offenses lined by the case and was issued beneath the president’s constitutional clemency authority.
George Santos probe comes amid scrutiny on prediction market trades
Authorities are reportedly analyzing whether or not Santos traded utilizing information about his personal attendance plans earlier than that info grew to become public. Kalshi’s rules prohibit participants from trading on outcomes they’ll immediately affect, making the case a part of a broader debate over insider info in prediction markets.
The eye on Santos comes because the trade faces rising stress from regulators, lawmakers and market operators. Earlier this yr, Polymarket strengthened its rules throughout each its decentralized platform and controlled U.S. change. The corporate explicitly barred buying and selling on improperly obtained confidential info, unlawful suggestions and contracts tied to occasions a dealer can affect.
“Markets thrive on readability,” mentioned Neal Kumar, Chief Authorized Officer of Polymarket. “These rule enhancements make our expectations abundantly clear for each participant throughout each platforms and spotlight the compliance infrastructure we now have already constructed. As Polymarket continues to scale, we are going to construct on our basis with clear communication to Polymarket’s customers to make sure our markets do what they do finest — floor reality.”
Santos has lengthy spoken favorably about prediction markets. Throughout a March episode of his YouTube show, he argued that the sector would play an more and more necessary function in politics and public dialogue. At one level, he said, “It isn’t against the law to do prediction market.”
The trade has just lately confronted a number of high-profile controversies. Polymarket reportedly ended a paid promotional relationship with Santos as scrutiny intensified. Individually, prosecutors charged U.S. Army Special Forces soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke with utilizing categorised info related to an operation involving Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to position worthwhile prediction-market wagers. Van Dyke has pleaded not responsible.
Final week, federal regulators said {that a} Google software engineer secretly used internal company information to position extremely profitable bets on Polymarket contracts tied to Google’s annual 12 months in Search rankings.
Santos continues to disclaim wrongdoing whereas federal authorities haven’t publicly detailed the scope of any investigation or introduced fees.
ReadWrite has reached out to Kalshi and Polymarket for remark.
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