Former U.S. Congressman George Santos is reportedly under federal investigation for alleged insider trading after placing a suspicious prediction-market bet tied to President Trump’s State of the Union address. The Department of Justice is examining the trade,
By the time President Trump’s State of the Union address arrived, George Santos was already living with a story the feds don’t take lightly: a bet that looks, on paper, like it was placed with private knowledge.
The Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the former U.S. Congressman for alleged insider trading. after prosecutors were alerted to a trade Santos made in a prediction market tied to whether he would attend the speech. Santos, who has already been convicted in federal court, now faces the possibility of new federal charges.
Santos is a convicted felon, and the new scrutiny stems from an alleged sequence that begins with his bragging and ends with a wager. The reporting says Santos told others he had attended Trump’s State of the Union address on February 24, but then bet against showing up for it.
The trade was allegedly placed through Kalshi. a regulated financial exchange that allows users to trade on outcomes of future events. Kalshi later learned about the suspicious trade and referred Santos to the DOJ, along with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC, a federal regulatory body, has also been pushing to crack down on insider trading.
Santos’s legal history is part of why this latest allegation lands so hard. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft and was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison. Trump then commuted Santos’ sentence, releasing him after he served 84 days in prison.
Santos served New York’s 3rd Congressional District for just under a year in 2021—long enough for his political profile to rise, but not long enough to protect him from the consequences that followed.
The newest development tightens the timeline again: a February 24 claim of attendance, a bet made through Kalshi that suggested he knew something he wasn’t supposed to, and then a regulatory referral once the exchange flagged what it had learned.
George Santos Department of Justice insider trading Kalshi prediction market State of the Union Commodity Futures Trading Commission CFTC fraud identity theft