George Santos Got Busted For Manipulating Political Betting Markets—and Seems to Have Little Remorse

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has levied a $35,000 fine against former congressman George Santos for attempting to manipulate political betting markets by placing bets on his own attendance at the State of the Union in February. The regulator has also banned Santos from using the prediction-market platform Kalshi for a period of three years.

According to the CFTC, Santos engaged in social media posts discussing his plans to attend or not attend the State of the Union (SOTU). His posts contained material misrepresentations and omissions regarding his attendance, causing the SOTU contract prices to move in a direction favorable to his positions, allowing him to make over $17,500 in profits.

Just before the SOTU, Santos posted a video on X stating he would be attending the event in the gallery. He also solicited his followers' opinions on his attire for the occasion via Instagram. However, Santos failed to make an appearance at the event.

Santos was previously expelled from Congress in 2023 due to a series of offenses, including identity theft and stealing campaign funds. He received an 87-month prison sentence, which was later commuted by Donald Trump, resulting in his release after 84 days.

George Santos' attorney, Joseph Murray, maintains that his client had no intent to deceive or manipulate any markets when placing Kalshi bets on his attendance at the SOTU. Despite this claim, Santos has not appeared to be over the matter, frequently posting about Kalshi on X over the past 24 hours, calling it a predatory platform, and demanding its founder be deported. He has even threatened to "legislate out of existence" the platform.