The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into former New York Republican Rep. George Santos for allegedly engaging in insider trading on the prediction market Kalshi, according to reporting by NPR. The investigation involves bets allegedly placed by Santos regarding his attendance at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address when Kalshi users were placing bets on who was going to attend the president’s speech. Santos had posted a video to social media the day prior to the State of the Union in which he said he would be in attendance, which prompted users to place high-value bets that the former congressman would attend.
“I’m going to be there for the State of Union in the gallery, guys,” Santos said in an X video posted Feb. 23, one day before the event.
However, Santos later posted that he was watching Trump’s address from an airport, causing the Kalshi odds to fall.
“Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML,” Santos said in an X post.
According to NPR’s reporting, Santos had already placed bets that he would not attend and profited tens of thousands of dollars from the trade, though the exact amount has not been disclosed.
